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H 1STORY 



— OF — 



Little Nine Partners 



OF 



North East Precinct, 



AND 



PINE PLAINS, NEW YORK, 

DUCHESS COUNTY. 
By ISAAC HUNTTING, Pine Plains, N. Y. 

Copyright 1897, By Isaac Huntting. 

VOL. I. 



AMENIA, NEW YORK : 
CHAS. WALSH & CO., Printers. 

1897. 



VcVyV 



r\*a 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1897, by Isaac Huntting. 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



ERRORS AND OMISSIONS. 

It is earnestly suggested that the errors and omissions here noted 
should be at once corrected by the purchaser of the book, by a marginal or 
foot note on the respective page where the error has occurred. By so doing 
confusion will be avoided. I. H. 

Page 31— 10th line from top, " 1664" read 174!. 

Page 25 — 5th line from bottom, " Baiter Slate " read Slater. 

Page 50— "Col. Hopkins" is Col. Roswell Hopkins, and the full names 
of the Captains in his regiment were Samuel Waters, John Van Benschoten, 
George Lane, James Talmadge, Noah Wheeler, John Brinkerhoff, Azar 
Barnum. 

Page 92 — 8th line from bottom the word " near " should come in next 
before " Augustine " to read near Augustine Graham. 

Page 134— 9th line from bottom, " 1711 " read 1710. 

Page 150— 12th line from bottom, -'1872 " read 1812. 

Page 223 — 9th line from top "three children" read four children, and 
in next line "twelve" children read thirteen. 

Page 260— 8th line from top " William " Bassett read Isaac Bassett. 

Page 301— 19th line from bottom, " 1718" read 1818. 

Page 310 — 3d line from top, making " stoves " read staves. 

Page 314 — " Jonathan Lewis " and " Dr. Lewis " are one and the same. 

Page 324 — 13th line from top, " Barrett " read Burnett. 

Page 330 — 14th line from top, Dominy " Duell " read Dull, and on. 

Page 358 — 3d line from bottom, "lias no descendants," read has one 
descendant. 



• PREFACE. 

This work is principally a compilation and revision of sketches 
pertaining to local history, published from time to time since 1877 in 
the Amenta Times, Dutchess Farmer, Po'Jceepsie Telegraph and I im 
Plains Register. The originals I prepared from data gathered from 
documentary evidence and tradition, where such tradition could be 
corroborated by facts. Very much herein could not be gathered now. 
The witnesses to facts of years ago have deceased and documents are lost. 
leaving a cloudy and uncertain tradition for the present. 

A little preserved is better than all lost. This has been my only 
incentive to toil in historical research, and I have not deemed it time 
wasted. 

ISAAC HUNTTING. 
Pine Plains, June 1st, 1SS6. 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 



CHAPTER I. 



NORTH EAST PRECINCT. 

November 1, 1683, the Province of New York was divided into 
twelve comities of which Dutchess was one. Its boundaries were " from 
the bounds of the County of Westchester, on the south side, of the 
Highlands, along the east side as far as Roeliff's Jansen's Kill and east 
into the woods twenty miles. " 

At this time it is supposed this territory had no white settlers, the 
nearest approach to this being some adventurous traders. 

Very soon after the organization of the Province into Counties "land 
grabbing" was inaugurated, and the lands in Dutchess County were 
speedily taken by men of influence or capital. Robert Livingston took 
the initial step in his manor of Livingston, which was followed in 
Dutchess County by 

First— " Rombout Patent," Oct. 17, 1685. Second— " Schuyler's 
Patent" — in two tracts, one near Red Hook, and one south of Po'keepsie 
—June 2, 1688. Third— " Po'keepsie Patent" May 7, 1697. Fourth— 
"Great Nine Partner's Patent" May 27, 1697. Fifth— "Adolph Philipse 
Patent" June 17, 1697, (now in Putnam). Sixth— " Rhinebeck Patent" 
June 8, 1703. Seventh— " Beekman Patent" June 25, 1703. Eighth 
— "Little Nine Partner Patent" April 10, 1706. 

Another Patent was granted to Richard Sackett & Co., (Richard 
Sackett, Josiah Crego, Joseph Sackett, Wm. Huddleston and John 
Michael,) near Wassaic, Nov. 2, 1704, for 7,500 acres, but they were unable 
to hold it, as it was covered by other previous grants. The bounds of 
"The Oblong" were not yet agreed upon, and the patents above named, 
which were "inland" from the Hudson River, extended easterly to the 
west line of the Oblong. 

These patents were granted under the Colonial governors, Dongan, 
Fletcher and Cornbury. Governor Bellomont succeeded Fletcher, and 
protested vigorously against the system of granting lands in the Province, 
which had been so loosely and wantonly practiced, so he claimed, by his 
predecessor, and plead for their vacation. He succeeded as to some 
grants west of Albany, but all those in Duchess County were confirmed 
or undisturbed. 

As to the number of inhabitants or settlers upon these grants in 
1701, Governor Bellomont thus writes to the Lords of Trade in London. 



4 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

"Mr. Livingston has on his great grant of 16 miles long and 24 broad 
but 4 or 5 cottagers as I am told, men that live in vassalage under him, 
and work for him, and are too poor to be farmers, having not wherewithal 
to buy cattle to stock a farm. Old Frederick Phillips is said to have about 
20 families of those poor people that work for him on his grant. I do not 
hear Frederick Phillips' son, Colonel Schuyler, or Colonel Beekman have 
any tenants on their grants." 

October 18, 1701, Dutchess County was provisionally annexed to Ulster 
County, at which date it had very few inhabitants, who probably resided 
in the territory now included in Putnam. 

In 1713 Dutchess assumed its independency and manhood by electing 
its county officers, and in 1719 it was divided into three wards, northern, 
middle and southern, each entitled to a supervisor. December 16, 1737, it 
was divided into seven precincts named Beekman, Chariotte, Crom Elbo, 
North, Po'keepsie, Rhinebeck and South East Town. Charlotte Precinct 
comprised nearly or quite the present towns of Stanford and Washington. 
March 13, 1786, this precinct was divided, the' north part including Stan- 
ford and Clinton was called "Clinton Precinct,"' and south of that was 
called "Washington Precinct." The first election in Clinton Precinct was 
held at "David Knapp's dwelling house." This division remained in 
force until the spring of 1788, when the act for the organization and 
boundaries of the towns in the county took effect. 

North East Precinct was formed from North Precinct, December 16. 
1 746. It comprised nearly all the territory in the present bounds of Milan, 
North East and Pine Plains. These three towns were organized at 
different periods or dates, the last one more than three quarters of a 
century after the formation of North East Precinct. Therefore, the civil 
history of North East Precinct is the history of these three towns until 
their respective town organization. Nearly all the land which the Little 
Nine Partners held under their grant — although much more is described 
in the patent — is embraced in North East Precinct. The Little Nine 
Partners Patent, for this reason, will now be noticed. In passing it may 
be said that at the time of these land grants rank and position in society 
and state were based upon land, and to be proprietor of much land was 
the ambition of the times. It increased apace with years, for railroad and 
mining stocks and government bonds, were not in the market The soil 
was the parent of wealth, and was so considered for a century. 
Lieutenant Governor Cadwalader Golden, many years after these land 
grants — in 1765 —writes: 

"The people of New York are properly distinguished into different 
ranks." 

1. ,- The proprietors of the large tracts of land, who include within 
their claims from 100,000 to above one million acres under one grant. 
Some of these remain in one single family, others are by devisees and 
purchases claimed in common by considerable number of persons." 



NORTH EAST PRECINCT. 5 

2. "The gentlemen of the law make the second class, in which 
properly are included both the Bench and the Bar. * * * * Both the 
judges and the principal practitioners at the Bar, are either owners, heirs, 
or strongly connected in family interest with the proprietors." 

3. ' ' The merchants make the third class. Many of them have 
suddenly rose from the lowest ranks of the people to considerable fortunes 
and chiefly in the last war by illicit trade." 

4. "In the last rank may be placed the farmers and mechanics." 
The Schuyler Patent in 1688 for land "lying over against Magdaline 

Island"— near Red Hook — the Patent to Caleb Heathcote & Co.— Great 
Nine Partners — in 1697, and the Rhinebeck Patent to Henry Beekman in 
1703 were supposed to cover all the unappropriated land in northern 
Dutchess, north to the bounds of the Livingston grant. In fact at that 
time Livingston Manor Patent was within the bounds of Dutchess County 
and remained so until 1717 ( when it was annexed to Albany County. But 
the following petition seems to have exposed a hidden carcass for the land 
buzzards, and how they contended for the picking is best told by the 
documents pertaining thereto. 



CHAPTER II. 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. 

"The petition of Susannah Vaughton, January 24, 1701, before the 
Council, January 26, 1701. To Honorable John Nanfan Lieutenant 
Governor, &c. That sometime in the year of our Lord one thousand six 
hundred eighty-six, one Mr. Henry Pauling, late of the County of Ulster, 
did agree with your petitioner's husband, Michael Vaughton, viz : that if 
the said Michael could in the names, and for the use of them the said 
Henry and Michael, obtain a grant of the then Governor Coll. Dongan to 
purchase of the natives a parcell of land lying at the Crom Elboogh, now 
in Dutchess County, that then be the said Pauling, would at his proper cost 
and charges for the use aforesaid, purchase the same of the Indians. In 
pursuance whereof the said Michael Vaughton did obtain a grant for the 
same to himself and the said Pauling, dated the second day of November, 
1686, and the said Pauling did by virtue thereof purchase at the place 
aforesaid several thousand acres of land without so much as discovering 



6 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

the same to your petitioner ( her husband going then to sea on a voyage on 
which he is supposed to be lost,) who was wholly ignorant of the premises 
until the year 1691, since which the wife or widow of the said Pauling did 
make application to Coll. Fletcher, late Governor of this Province, for a 
pattent for the same, whereupon your petitioner entered a caveat against 
passing thereof. But without being suffered to be heard by Council a 
pattent passed the seall for 4,000 acres to Mr. Pauling, which are part of 
the lands purchased by the aforesaid licence. And your petitioner being 
well informed that there are some thousands of acres of land purchased 
as aforesaid joining to Mr. Pauling's Pattent which are not yet patented 
out. 

"She therefore most humbly prays the premises considered, that she 
may obtain your Honorable Warrant to your Surveyor General for the 
laying out of three thousand acres of the said land, and have a pattent 
for the same under a moderate quit rent, that so she may not be wholly 
debarred of what her husband with great cost and charge obtained. 

•' New York, 24th January, 1701." 

This petition is accompanied by the following affidavit : 

"February. - ), 1701. Mr. Jameson sworn in Council said, that in the 
year 1690 Pauling the husband applied to the Govemour for a patent and 
produced the Indian deed. In 1695, Mr. Pauling being dead, his widow 
applied to the Council for a patent (by) Cortlandt and Bayard. Cortlandt 
then informed the Council that there was an agreement between Dongan, 
then Governor, and Pauling, that Pauling should purchase the land at his 
own charge from the Indians, and that one Michael Vaughton should have 
half when purchased. That on this information the widdow's petition 
was rejected, and the reason alleged was, that the children of said 
Vaughton had the right and not the widdow, for she might marry and 
defraud her children. Then a pattent was desired by Mr. Cortlandt for 
the widow, for the use of the children, and granted for 4000 acres. Jame- 
son before the granting of this pattent, went and acquainted the widdow 
Vaughton of this matter. But she alleged that she was poor and could 
not bring out a pattent. That he (Jameson) was informed that widdow 
Vaughton had said, when widdow Pauling petitioned for the whole, the 
Council said it was too much for one. and said that if Vaughton had any 
right she ought to apply. " 

These proceedings in open Council on the part of Mrs. Vaughton ho- 
lier lawyers, now twelve years or more since the original bargain, raised 
the question of title, gave publicity to the transaction, threw doubt into 
public opinion, and opened a new field for the land grabbers. 

Accordingly a company of the charitable sort — "Leigh, Atwood and 
others" — petitioned Lieut-Gov. Nanfan, April 15, 1702. " That since their 
former petition of the 10th of November last for land in Duchess County, 
it hath appeared that an agreement made between yourselves in case such 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. 7 

a grant might be obtained) could not take effect by reason of the preten- 
sions of Mrs. Susannah Vaughton, which tbese petitioners are satisfied to 
be just, it bath further appeared that she was equally entitled with the 
widow Pauling to a grant made by her and her children upon a purchase 
of the native Indian Proprietors, In consideration whereof and in full 
satisfaction of her demand, - she, the said Pauling, accepted a patent of 
4,000 acres, which patent being wholly void these Petitioners are desirous 
to pray no advantage as discoverers thereof, and that rather because some 
settlement and improvement has been made upon part of said 4.000 
acres. May it therefore please your Honors to grant a survey of the 
whole tract and that forthwith after a survey returned and 4,000 acres 
laid out for the said Widdow Pauling and her children and their assigns 
in a square together in such place as they shall choose, provided 
convenient passage from the water be left for the remainder of said tract, 
All such Remainder be granted to your Petitioners and their Heirs under 
a moderate quit rent. And your Petitioners as in duty bound shall ever 
pray." etc. 

The Great Nine Partner Patent in 1697, nearly four years previous In 
this petition of Susannah Vanghton, recognized the Pauling boundary as 
follows : "Bounded on the west by Hudson's River between the creeks 
called by the Indians Aquassing and by the Christians the Fish Creek at 
the marked trees of Pawling." 

The Pauling patent referred to in the preceeding petitions was granted 
May 11th, 1696, for 4,000 acres to "Neiltie Pauling and Jane, Wyntie, John, 
Albert, Ann, Henry and Mary, the children of said Neiltie." The lands 
are "Bounded west by Hudson's River and extend easterly to a creek," 
in the vicinity of Crom Elbow Creek or Fish Creek, easterly from 
Rhinebeck. 

Henry Pauling, October 23, 1686, received a grant for "Lot No. :» in 
Marbletown and south of Esopus Kill" in Ulster county. He was lost at 
sea, or died at sea about 1688. 

Meanwhile another company of land grabbers now appear, who claim 
to have discovered some "vacant lands" belonging to the Indians in 
northern and northeastern Dutchess, and July 8, 1702, they say "that 
your petitioners being about to treat with the Indians for vacant lands in 
Dutchess county, in this Province, and in great hopes to come to an 
agreement with them fen- the purchase thereof. 

Sampson, Broughton & Co." 

Tins petition is endorsed "Granted." Soon after obtaining this they 
learn that "Leigh Atwood and others" had previously obtained a license 
from Lieut. Governor Nanfan to purchase these "vacant lands" of the 
Indians, and that this license had expired. Upon this information they 
took measures to jump the claim of Leigh Atwood and others by a 
petition, of which this is a copy : 



8 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

' ' To his excellency, Edward Lord Viscount Cornbury, Capt. Generall 
and Governour in Chiefe of Her Majesty's Province of New York in 
America and Vice-Admiral of the same, in Council, Etc. 

' ' The Humble Petition of Robert Lurting and Sampson Broughton 
for themselves and Company, Most Humbly Sheweth, that there is a 
certaine tract or parcell of unappropriated lands in Dutchess County, in 
this province, v> hich Leigh Atwood, Esqr. , and others obtained a license 
from Capt. Nanfan when he was Lieutenant Governor of the said Prov- 
ince, to purchase of the Indians in a certain limited space of time, which 
is now elapsed and nothing done therein ; wherefore your Excellencies 
above Petitioners most humbly pray your Excelleney, that for the better 
improvement of the said lands, and that they may not be wast. Your 
Excellency would be pleased to grant unto your said Petitioners, a license 
to purchase the said unappropriated Lands of the Indians, owners of the 
same. 

"And your petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray, &c. 

ROBERT LURTING. 
SAMP. BROUGHTON & CO. 

Endorsed "Petition of Robert Lurting and Company read in Council 
19th November, 1702." 

These were the lands in northeastern Dutchess, east of the Beekman and 
Schuyler patents, and the petitions and proceedings in regard to these 
"vacant lands," are the origin of the grant known as the "Upper or Little 
Nine Partners. " The patent was issued April 10, 1706, to Sampson 
Broughton, Rip Van Dam, Thomas vYenham, Roger Mompesson, Peter 
Fauconier, Augustine Graham, Richard Sackett and Robert Lurting. 
George Clark purchased a ninth interest from the eight Patentees making 
■ Nine Partners," but he was not a Patentee 

He was secretary of the Province of New York at this time, and 
probably from prudence did not appear an a patentee. 



CHAPTER III. 



CERTIFIED COPY OF THE LITTLE NINE PARTNER PATENT. 

Broughton & Company — Ann by the Grace of God of England 
Scotland, France and Ireland Qneen Defender of ye faith &c. To all 
whom these presents may in any wise Concern Sendeth Greeting, Where- 
as our Loving subjects Sampson Broughton, Rip Van Dam, Thomas 
Wenham Roger Mompesson Peter ffauconnier Augustine Graham Richard 
Sackett and Robert Lurting by their humble Petition presented to our 
Right Trusty and well beloved Cousin Edward Viscount Cornbury Captain 
Gen '11 and Govern'r in Chief in and over our Province of New Yorke and 
Territories Depending thereon in America and Vice Admiral of Ye same, 
&c, In Council have Prayed our Grant and Confirmation of a certain 
tract of land beginning at ye North Bounds of ye land lately Purchased by 
Richard Sacket in Dutchess County and Runs thence South Easterly by 
his North Bounds to Wimpoting thence by ye Mountains Southerly to ye 
South East Corner of ye said Sacketts land and thence Easterly to ye 
Colon}- Line of Connecticutt and thence Northerly by the said Colony 
Line and Wiantenick River to ye South Bounds of Lands Purchased by 
Jno Spraag & Co. at Owassitanuck thence Westerly by the said Purchase 
as it runs to ye South West Corner thereof thence to ye Manor of Living- 
ston and by the South Bounds thereof unto ye land Purchased and 
Pattented to Collo Peter Schuyler over against Magdaline Island and so by 
the said purchase and Pattent to ye Pattent of Collo Beekman for land 
lying over against Clyne Esopus fflye and thence by the said land to the 
South East Corner thereof and thence Easterly to ye said Sackett's South 
West Corner and thence to ye place where begun, the which Petic'on we 
being minded to Grant Know ye that of our especial Grace, Certaine 
Knowledge and meer mo'con We have given granted ratified and con- 
firmed and in and by these presents for ourselves and heirs and successors 
•do give grant ratifye and confirme unto ye said Sampson Broughton Rip 
Van Dam Thomas Wenham Roger Mompesson Peter ffauconier Augustine 
Graham Richard Sackett & Robert Lurting all and singular the Tract of 
land above menc'oned and all and singular the hereditaments & appurts 
thereunto belonging within ye bounds and limitts above in the presents 
mentioned & expressed together with all Woods Underwoods Trees 
Timber ffeedings Pastures Meadows Marshes Swamps Ponds Pools Waters 
Water Courses Rivers Rivulets Runs and streams of Water ffishing 
ffowling hawking hunting Mines and Mineralls Standing Growing Lying 
.and being or to be used had or enjoyed within ye bounds and Limits 



10 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

aforesaid and all other profitts benefitts priviledges Libertyes advantages 
hereditaments and appurts Whatsoever unto ye said land and premisses or 
any part or parcell thereof belonging or in any wise appertaining in eight 
Equall Parts to be divided (except always and res'rd out of this our 
present grant all gold and silver mines) To have and to hold one eight 
part of ye said tract of land and premises aforesaid with the appurts 
hereby granted or meant men'coned or intended to be hereby granted as 
afores'd unto ye said Sampson Broughton his heires and assignes forever to 
ye only prop'r use and behoof of ye said Sampson Broughton his heires and 
assignes forever one other Eight Part thereof unto the said Rip Van Dam 
his heires and assignes forever to the only prop'r use and behoof of ye s'd 
Rip Van Dam his heires and assignes forever one other Eight part thereof 
unto the s'd Thomas Wenham his heires and assignes forever to ye only 
prop'r use and behoof of the said Thomas Wenham his heires and assignes 
forever one other Eight part thereof unto ye said Roger Mompesson his 
heires and assignes forever to ye only prop'r use and behoof of him ye said 
Roger Mompesson his heires and assignes forever one other Eight part 
thereof unto ye said Peter ffauconnier his heires and assignes forever to ye 
only proper use and behoof of ye said Peter ffauconn'r his heires and as- 
signes forever one other Eight part thereof unto ye said Augustine Graham 
his heires and assignes forever to the only proper use and behoof of the said 
Augustine Graham his heires and assignes forever one other Eighth part 
thereof unto the said Richard Sackett his heires and assignes forever to the 
only prop'r use and behoof of ye said Richard Sackett his heires and 
assignes forever and one other Eight part thereof unto the said Robert 
Lurting his heires and assignes forever to the only prop'r use and behoof 
of ye said Robert Lurting his heires and assignes forever (except as is 
herein before excepted) To be holden of us our heires and successors in 
free and com'on soccage as of our Mannor of East Greenwich in the 
County of Kent within our Kingdom of England Yielding & Paying 
therefore Yearly and every year from henceforth unto us our heires and 
successors at our Custome House at New Yorke to our Collec'r or Recev'r 
( ren'U therefor for the time being at or upon the ffeast Day of the Annun- 
cia'con of ye blessed Virgin Mary ( com'only called Lady Day ) the rent or 
sum of three pounds Current Money of our Province of New Yorke, 
provided always and these presents are upon that condition that if no 
Improvem't be already had or made upon the said Land and Pss's hereby 
granted nor any part or parcell thereof that then and in such case they the 
said Sampson Broughton, Rip Van Dam, Thomas Wenham, Roger Mom- 
pesson, Peter ffauconnier, Augustine Graham, Richard Sackett and Robert 
Lurting theire Jieires and assignes some or one of them, shall within ye 
time and space of three y'rs now next following from and after the date 
hereof settle clear and make Improvement of and upon ye said land and 
premises hereby granted or of and upon some part or parcell thereof. 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. 1 1 

In Testimony Whereof Wee have caused these O'r Lett'rs to be made 
Pattent and ye seal of our said Province of New Yorke to our said Letters 
Pattent to be affixed and the same to be recorded in our Secr'ys Office <>f 

our said Province. 

Witness our Right trusty and Well beloved Cousin Edward Viscount 
Cornbury our Captain Gen'rl and Governorer in Chief in and over our said 
Province of New Yorke and Territoryes depending thereon in America 
and Vice Admirall of the same, &c, in Council at our ffort at New Yorke 
the tenth day of Aprill in the fifth year of our Reign Annoy Dm' 1706. 

GEORGE CLARKE. 

I do hereby certify the aforegoing to be a true copy of the original 
Record compared herewith by me. 

LEWIS A. SCOTT. Secretary. 

State of New York, / , 

Office of the Secretary of State. } ' s ' 

I have compared the preceding copy of Letters Patent with the record 
thereof in this office in Book Number Seven of Patents at page 295, &c. , 
and I do hereby certify the same to be a correct transcript therefrom and 
of the whole thereof. 

Witness my hand and the seal of office of the Secretary of State at 
the city of Albany the 2d day of March, one thousand eight hundred and 
eighty-three. 

Ir _ , ANSON S. WOOD, 

[U *- J Deputy Secretary of State. 



This patent was confirmed September 25th, 1708. 



Sampson Broughton was the son of Sampson Shelton Broughton, who 
was appointed Attorney General of New York in 1700, under Bellomont, 
successor to James Graham. He left England April 2(5, 1701, and arrived 
in New York July 24 the same year, and deceased in Feb. 1705. His son, 
the patentee, was appointed his successor June 18, 1705, but Governor 
Cornbury refused to allow him to act, alleging he was not qualified, 
whereupon Broughton went to England and obtain'd the following 
recommend from her Majesty's Attorney General, Edward Northey : 

"Mr. Sampson Shelton Broughton, the father of the present Mr. 
Broughton, I knew many years, he was a barrister of long standing in 
the Middle Temple, and his son was bred there under him, and was called 
to the Bar at the time his father went to New York, and went thither with 
him. He not having practiced in England before he went to New York. 
I am not able to give any account of what proficiency he had then made 
in the study of the law, but that being seven years since, by the accoun the 
and others have given me of his application to his Studies in New York, 
and the knowledge he has gained of the People, laws and methods there, 



12 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

it seems probable to me that he will be able to serve Her Majesty there, 
in the place in which She was pleased by her Letters to direct him to 
be placed.' - 

June 24, 1708. EDWARD NORTHEY. 

But this availed nothing in his favor, for John Raynor succeeded to 
the office. 

Rip Van Dam was of Dutch lineage, his ancestor emigrating to 
America as early as 1653. He was bred a sailor, it is said, and about 1690 
was interested pecuniarily in a ship yard on the Nortn River, in the rear of 
Trinity Church yard. Some of his vessels, under some pretext, were 
seized and condemned by Governor Nanfan, which caused Van Dam to be 
his enemy, and he threw his influence and effort into the Anti Leisler 
party. On the arrival of Governor Cornbury, Van Dam being then a 
merchant, he was sworn a member of the Council in 1702, by orders from 
England, and continued an active member until the death of Governor 
John Montgomery, in 1731, of which event he advised the Lords of Trade 
in London as follows : 

New York, 1, July, 1731. 

' " I thought it my duty with all speed to acquaint your Lordships with 
the death of our late Governor John Montgomerie, Esq., who departed 
this life last night, and that until further orders from his Majestie, the 
Government of this Colony is devolved upon me as the first of His 
Majestie's Council here." * * * * 

RIP VAN DAM. 

He was thus acting Governor until William Cosby, from England, 
under appointment by the king, arrived in New York, in September, 1732. 
Soon after Van Dam became disaffected, and the next year in December 
he exhibited a complaint of maladministration against Governor Cosby, 
headed by thirty-six articles in which the Governor is fearlessly criticised 
and charged with official corruption and injustice. 

To this the members of the Council — George Clark, Francis Harrison, 
Archibald Kennedy, James DeLancy, Philip Cortlandt, Henry Lane and 
Daniel Horsmanden — replied, and to some extent refuted the charges. 

"We have been very often at a loss how to believe that a man of his 
years could forge so many and so notorious scandalls, " they say in their 
reply, "but we are to inform your Grace that the resentment, malice and 
revenge of some of the wickedest men are thrown into his assistance," and 
* * * " we in most humble manner beseech your Grace that the said 
Rip Van Dam may be no longer continued in the List of His Majesty's 
Councill here." 

This was counter replied to by Mr. Van Dam, and the whole proceed- 
ings published in a pamphlet, and widely circulated. Van Dam had 
assistants in Lewis Morris and James Alexander, the former under 
petition of suspension from the office of Chief Justice and the latter 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. 13. 

from the Council, by Governor Cosby, and herein lies a bit of interesting 
history concerning two of these Little Nine Partners. 

While waiting to hear from the Lords in London concerning the 
removal of Van Dam, Morris and Alexander, Governor Cosby was taken 
ill, and two days later he suspended Van Dam. On the tenth of March, 
1735, after an illness of fifteen weeks, Governor Cosby died, when Van 
Dam wrote to "President Clarke" as follows: 

"I was informed this morning that last night His Excellency, our 
Governor, died, whereupon I just now waited upon his widow, to inform 
her that upon the decease of the late Governor Montgomerie the adminis- 
tration of the government of this province did devolve upon me as eldest 
Councillor, and requested her that as I was obliged to suppose that His 
Majesty's Commission and Instructions to her deceased husband were in 
her possession or power, that she would favor me with a sight of them * * 
that she wouid deliver the said commission and instructions and the Seal 
of the Province to me to whom I conceive they do of right belong. * * 
However I am informed that last night the Commission, Instruction and 
Seal of this Province were put in your hands," and "I pray that you 
would favor me with the sight of the Commission and instructions. * * 

To this Mr. Clarke replied: "In answer to your letter just now 
delivered to me by yourself, I do myself the honor to say that Governor 
Cosby having suspended you, a copy of which suspension you were served 
with in November last, and I having been yesterday regularly sworn by 
His Majesty's Councill into the administration of the Government, I con- 
ceive the custody of His Majesty's Commission and Instructions to the said 
Governor, and of the Great Seal of the Province belongs to me, and I shall 
keep them as it is my duty to do, till His Majesty's pleasure be known to 
whom only I am accountable." 

Clarke thus being Governor was officially placed in opposition to Rip 
Van Dam, James Alexander and Lewis Morris. Alexander was a member 
of the Councils of New York and New Jersey. Morris was Chief Justice 
of New York, and member of the Council of New Jersey. Morris and 
Alexander were the leading men, and Van Dam and others did their 
bidding, greatly to the annoyance of Governor Clark. ' ' They threatened 
insurrection and hanged me," he writes "under a feigned name in a ficti- 
tious piece of history about a month ago in one of their printed papers." 
"Rip Van Dam is a tool in their hands," writes Governor Clark, " he is 
very old and that small share of natural understanding which he had 
formerly, is greatly impaired. He is looked upon as the head of the 
faction, only as he had once the administration of the Government as 
President." 

This was the time (1736) and the faction which controlled the New York 
Weekly Journal, printed by the celebrated John Peter Zenger, which was 
prosecuted and publicly burned, and Zenger imprisoned. Lewis Morris, Jr. 
is charged by Governor Clark as "the author of the seditious papers, " and 



14 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

James Alexander, William Smith and Rip Van Dam were his associates. 
Against them all Governor Clark was successful. " I pity Van Dam," he 
writes, "and heartily wish he could be distinguished from the rest, for he 
is really incapable of judging for himself, and has been wholly guided by 
Alexander, Smith, Morris and his son, He is already severely punished in 
his purse, for Morris, Alexander and Smith have undone him. He is an 
object of His Majesty's mercy and I truly wish he had it." It is a notice- 
able fact that these two owners in common in the Little Nine Partners — 
Van Dam and Clark — should thus appear in our Colonial History, and 
actors in that exciting and memorable trial of John Peter Zenger, wherein 
was first enunciated the principle of liberty of the press. 

After living to a very advanced age, Mr. Van Dam died in the city of 
New York, on the 10th of June, 1749. In early life he married Sarah Van 
Der Speigle, by whom he had two sons, Rip and Isaac, and three daugh- 
ters, Elizabeth, the wife of Jacob Kiersted, Mary, who married Nicholas 
Parcel, and Catalyntic, who married Walter Thong, whose daughter Mary 
married Robert Livingston, the third proprietor of the manor of Livings 
ton. Rip Van Dam, the eldest son, died during his father's life time, 
leaving a large family. Isaac was a merchant, deceased December 10, 
1749, surviving his father only a few months. 

Thomas Wenhain was a warden of Trinity Church in 1697, a vestry- 
man in 1699, and a prominent merchant in New York for many years. 
He was a member of the Council and a leader in that body, and seldom 
absent. In the trials of Bayard and Hutchins he and Rip Van Dam plead 
for the release of the prisoners and especially for Alderman John 
Hutchins, and is often and favorably mentioned in the Colonial annals. 
He deceased in December, 1709. 

Roger Mompesson was a "Barrister at Law," and appointed Judge of 
the Court of Admiralty of New York, April l, 1703, under the seal of the 
High Court of Admiralty of England, he being there at that time. He 
arrived in Philadelphia in the summer of that year, and upon the death of 
Dr. Bridges in July, 1704, Chief Justice of New York, Governor Cornbury 
constituted Mr. Mompesson his successor, which appointment was con- 
firmed by the Lords in London in these words: "As to Mr. Mompesson 
being Chief Justice in the room of Dr. Bridges deceased, we do not doubt 
but that he will answer the character you gave him, and the expectation 
yovi have that he will discharge his duty. " 

On the second of October following, Governor Cornbury appointed 
him Chief Justice of the Province of New Jersey, and in February, 1705, 
he became a member of the New York Council. In the spring of I7ll, not 
being in harmony with the Jersey people, he "desired to be excused 
serving longer in the station of Chief Justice" in that Province, and David 
Jamison, formerly Secretary of the Province of New York, and one of the 
patentees in the "Great Nine Partners," was appointed his successor. 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT 15 

At the time of this resignation he was said to be in "such necessitous 
circumstances that it wants a virtue more than human to guard against 
the temptation of corruption.' This was said by Governor Hunter, who 
further writes: "He is a person of ability and great knowledge in ye 
Laws." These were compliments of the highest order. His "necessitous 
circumstances'' were the result of small salaries, and these always coming 
but never came, according to English policy then with her New York 
colonists. He petioned in 1700 for his pay up to that time, he not having 
received a penny, amounting to four hundred and twenty live pounds, ten 
shillings, which petition the Lords in London received July 7, 1709, and 
read the twenty seventh of the same month. No pay came for two years, 
when in September. 1711, he went to Englanl, returned soon after to 
America, and deceased in March, 171."), '-'In spotless ermine clad." 

Lewis Morris was appointed Chief Justice as his successor, and George 
Clark to fill his vacancy in the Council. 

Judge Mompesson wrote a paper in 1709 entitled: " Maladministration of 
Affairs in New York,'" treating upon "Grants, The Revenue, Courts of 
Common Law, The Governor's granting warrants in his own name, and 
Huy and Cry,"' which Governor Hunter forwarded to England in May, 
1715. It is a strictly judicial paper, and shows learning and ability. 
While in England previous to coming to America, he was a member of 
two parliaments and becoming involved by engagements to pay his father's 
debts, he was reduced to poverty and accepted the Admiralty judgeship of 
New York as a step to greater possibilities. He married Martha, daughter 
of William Pinhorne, of New Jersey, and left one surviving son, Pinhorne 
Mompesson. 

Peter Fauconier, a Frenchman, was a naval officer, residing at New 
York in Cornbury's time, by whom, in 1705, he was recommended as 
collector of customs. He received the appointment, and in the discharge 
of his duties he was charged with a little crookedness, in unlawfully 
retaining money that should have gone into the treasury. In regard to his 
land grabbing, Judge Robert Mompesson, in 1709, writing on the malad- 
ministration of New York, writes: "Grants have been made of all the 
lands that could be discovered, some of them in very large tracts, and in 
all that are good and valuable, Mr. Fauconier and Mr. Bridges, and 
sometimes both, are patentees." 

He was a member of the French Reformed Protestant church, 
December 21. 1724. 

Augustine Graham was the son of James Graham, the Attorney 
General, and in the ancestral line of the Grahams of Pine Plains. He 
died in 1718. Some of our local histories put his son James as a Patentee 
in the Little Nine Partners. This is an error, he was not a patentee. 

Richard Sackett has already been alluded to in the W'assaic grant. 
Ke was employed by Governor Hunter in 1711 to superintend the Palatines 
in the manufacture of tar, turpentine and resin at "the Camp," on the 



16 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

east side of the Hudson, and it is probably through the acquaintance there 
formed, and his influence, that the families of Rauh, Winegar, Kline, 
Nase, and other Palatine families settled in the Oblong. Mr. Sackett died 
at the Steel Works near Wassaic in 1746. (Reed's Hist. Amenia.) 

Robert Lurting was a merchant in New York, a warden in Trinity 
Church in 1697, a vestryman in 1699 and "Vendue Master" in the city, by 
which office he reaped official trouble in some alleged unlawful sale of 
goods. 

George Clark. There were but eight patentees in the Upper or Little 
Nine Partners grant, George Clark making the ninth by purchase, as ' ' the 
said Patentees did afterwards convey unto George Clark, Esq., his heirs 
and assigns, one undivided ninth part of the said Tract of land and 
Premises, by means whereof each of the said Patentees became seized, 
possessed of, and entitled unto, only one full and undivided ninth part or 
share of and in the said whole tract of land. " 

He was secretary of this Province when this patent was granted, and 
was furthermore a relative of Governor Cornbury, thus from prudential 
motives he did not wish his name to appear in the patent, and the fact of 
there being only eight in the original patent, is presumptive evidence of 
an agreement which was fulfilled by his subsequent purchase. 

George Clark was an Englishman, studied law in England, was 
appointed secretary of the Province of New York, came to America, and 
was sworn into that office, July 30, 1703, when Cornbury was Governor. 
He married Ann Hyde — an heiress of the elder branch of the house of 
Hyde in the County of Palatine of Chester, by which marriage he became 
a relative of Lord Cornbury and with the Royal House of Stuart. She is 
represented as a woman of fine accomplishments. 

Mr. Clark was secretary under Governor Hunter in 1715 — became a 
member of the Council, and on the death of Governor Cosby in 1735 — as 
heretofore noticed — he by seniority of Councilship became Governor, 
which office he filled until succeeded by George Clinton in 1743. 

• He was an adherent to prerogative and had integrity and a vigorous 
mind. His speeches do credit to him as a scholar, and his arguments 
required the combined talents of the assembly to weaken or destroy. " 

In January, 1744, Governor Clinton wrote to the Duke of New Castle, 
' ' that Lieut. Governor Clark has told me he proposes going from hence in 
the spring with his family, and has strongly pressed me to trouble Your 
Grace in behalf of his son, Hyde Clark, who is a Lieutenant in my 
company here, that you would be pleased to give consent to his being 
removed from hence into General Oglethorp's Regiment." 

He sailed for England with an accumulated estate, estimated at the 
time at one hundred thousand pounds, was taken prisoner on his passage 
by the French, was soon after released, and idemnified by Parlament for 
his losses. He soon after bought a handsome estate in Cheshire, where he 
died about 1759. He had four daughters and two sons born in America, 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER OR ANT. 17 

gave his property to his two sons, George and Edward (Edward Hyde 
Clark). George was many years secretary of the Province, resigned in 
1772, died at Hyde 177(>, a bachelor. 

Edward was in the army, commanded a company of Albany provin- 
cials at the taking of Havanna under Lord Albemarle, and for his services 
was made a major on the field. Later he went to Jamaica, retired from the 
service, returned to America in 1772, went to England where he deceased 
in 1774. He left one son, George Hyde Clark, whose eldest son George 
inherited the estates in New York. He also had two sons George Hyde 
and Edward Hyde, who, August 5. 1811, declared their intention of 
becoming citizens of the United States. The present George Clark, well 
known to our townsmen, is, we believe, the sixth in line of descent from 
Governor George Clark. Of all the patentees or proprietors in the Little 
Nine Partner tract, the Clark interest is the only one that remains in the 
family name. All the other original interests have been subdivided and 

passed into other hands. 

Richard Sackett was an active partner in this firm, and had a better 
knowledge of the lands than any other member of the company. Only 
two years previous he had obtained his grant for the Wassaic tract of 7,500 
acres, to gain which he went to Woodbury, Conn. , to get a deed or title 
from the Indian Proprietors as a preliminary step. In this deed it is 
described as a tract " near a place called Wishshiag (Wassaic) beginning 
at a place called by ye Indians Querapoquett of the furthermost corner of 
s'd land, and then running northerly to a place called Wishshiag, and so on 
about a mile northwest of the Allum Rocks, then easterly to an high 
mountain called Weeputting, (an Indian word from Weepe or Weebe, 
a tooth, and ing a terminal signifying place of, hence, the place of tooth 
mountain. It is called in that locality '-Peaked Mountain." — I. H.) and 
from thence to ye South East corner of a place called Wammunting, all in 
tract of land be it more or less. Bearing date in Woodbury the fifth of 
November 1708. Wusumpe, Tamquash. Yon-sing-pom-kin-feet, Occum- 
bus, Wyawaw, Yonghaus, a squaw in behalf of her sons. " These 
signatures are represented by their respective "mark." 

This tract was surveyed by Augustine Graham, Surveyor General of 
the Province of New York, who gave this certificate of the survey: 

"Beginning at a place called Querapoquett at a white oak tree marked 
with three notches and a cross, and the letter S, and thence runs North 
Easterly by the Mountains Six miles to a White Oak tree marked by the 
Indians standing on the east side of Wesaick Brook, and thence running- 
east, twenty degrees northerly, to the top of a mountain 25 chains, and 
thence South East to a Mountain called Weeputing, thence South West- 
erly by the ridge of Mountain to a Pine Tree, and thence North West to 
the place where began, being bounded on the North and South by marked 
trees, on the East and West by the Mountains, containing 7,500 acres. 
Great part of the said land is Mountains Rocky, Part Bushy Plains 
producing Little timber, and part of the said land is fertile lying in small 
patches along the river side. Performed the 18th of April, 1704. 

AUGUSTINE GRAHAM, Surveyor Gen'l." 



18 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

A map accompanies the survey, giving the boundaries, and an Indian 
wigwam a short distance easterly from the site of the "Steel Works." 

The patent to Sackett for this tract was issued Nov. 2, 1704, in which 
the boundaries are the same as in Graham's certificate of survey. The 
object of this reference to the Richard Sackett grant will be appreciated 
further on. 




James Graham, Marquis of Montrose. 

Executed in Edinburgh, Scotland, May 21st, 16-iO. Great grandfather of Augustine 
Graham, a patentee in the Little Nine Partner Grant. (See Lineage.) 

Augustine Graham was a patentee in the Great Nine Partner Patent 
(1697) and a patentee in the Little Nines (1706) two years later than the 
patent to Sackett, but at the date of his survey of the Sackett tract he had 
no interest in the Great Nine Partner Patent. "June 11, 1701 Augustine 
Graham one of the patentees of the Nine Partners by Indenture of this 
date conveys to Edward Antell all his right and interest in the said patent 
being one third." Antell married his niece, Annie Morris, daughter of 
Governor Lewis Morris. 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. 19 

Sackett's experience and ability were of great value to this firm, and 
made him a partner from necessity in order to secure the lands between 
him and the Connecticut river. 

The Little Nine Partner patent enclosed his tract on the west, north 
•and east. Its boundary commences on Sackett's northwest corner, which 
is about a half mile south of Wassaic in Amenia, thence ' ' South Easterly 
by his (Sackett's) north bounds "to " Wimpoting " (Little Nine's) "Wee- 
putting " (Sackett's). This is about a mile southeasterly from Cline's Cor- 
nel* — South Amenia — and is the northeast corner of the Richard Sackett 
grant of 1704. Thence the boundaries of the two tracts are the same line. 
Sackett's says " southwesterly," Little Nines say " Southerly to ye South 
East Corner of ye said Sackett's land. " which is "by the ridge of Moun- 
tains " about six miles from Weepeeting. The Little Nines then go easterly 
to the colony line of Connecticut, then north to the lands of John Spraag 
& Co. , then westerly to the Livingston Takhanick lands. 

"John Spraag & Co." — Lucas Santon, John Spraag, Derrick Wessels 
and Cornelius Van Dyck — "March 25, 1685, purchased of Panaskenaek. 
Indian owner, being empowered by his brother Tatankemitt (who is now 
out a hunting) lands on the west side of ye creek Westenhook (Housatonic) 
bounding south on a flat called Tashammick, belonging to Nishatawa, An- 
anpake and Ottouawa. " John Spraag was a resident of New York 
City and a member of the Council under Governor Dongan in 1684, and in 
the spring of 1687 was the bearer of despatches to England refuting certain 
official charges against the governor by Lucas Santon, one of the firm of 
John Spraag & Co. On the 17th of February, 1683, Santon was appointed 
■collector and receiver of customs at New York by King James, which 
office he held until the fourth of November, 1687, when his appointment 
was "revoked, Determined and made void." 

March 6, 1705, one year later than the grant to Richard Sackett, and 
the year previous to the grant to the Little Nines, Peter Schuyler, Derrick 
Wessels, John Abeel, John Janse Bleeker, Ebenezer Willson, Peter Fau- 
conier, Doctor Daniel Cox, Thomas Wenham and Henry Smith, obtained 
a grant for lands in the Housatonic valley, which is known as the 
"Westenhook Patent," Its southern boundary is at or near Canaan Falls, 
and its northern boundary north of Great Barrington. It included the 
lands of John Spraag & Co., as its southern portion, which is made the 
north bounds of the Little Nine Partner Patent at this locality. Thomas 
Wenham and Peter Fauconier were patentees in both the Westenhook and 
Little Nine Patents, and it is quite apparent that Richard Sackett was 
"took in" as a "partner" for his services, as otherwise he might have been 
a troublesome hornet. 

The boundary of the Little Nines, by a further notice runs from the 
"South Bounds of Lands Purchased by Jno. Spraag & Co., at Owassi- 
tannuck " to the south bounds of the Manor of Livingston and along the 
same unto " ye land Purchased and Patented to Coll. Peter Schuyler over 



20 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

against Magdaline Island.'' Peter Schuyler, also, was a patentee in the 
Westenhook Patent. The line then runs to the southeast corner of ' ' the 
Pattent of Coll. Beekman," (Rhinebeck Patent) and thence easterly to ye 
said Sackett's South West Corner and thence to ye place where begun." 

Richard Sackett's southwest corner as surveyed by Augustine Graham, 
April 18, 1704, was "at a place called Querapoquett, " which I locate at or 
near the pass in the mountain about two and a half or three miles south- 
westerly from Dover Plains. 

The grant to the Great Nine Partners Patent of lf>97 had in its 
description for the south bounds, ' ' an east and west Line to the Division 
Line between the province of New York and the colony of Connecticut," 
which was then undefined. This east and west line was very nearly 
the present south boundaries of Hyde Park, Pleasant Valley, Washington 
and that part of Amenia west of the Oblong. The north line commenced 
at the head of Fish Creek and ran east " by a parallel line to the south 
Bounds east and west Reaching the aforesaid Division Line." The head 
of Fish Creek is " Cold Spring " — Spring Lake — about four miles east of 
Rhinebeck Village. Near this is the north-west corner of the Great Nines 
and the south-west of the Little Nines. The south-west corner of the 
Richard Sackett tract is three or four miles south of the south line of the 
Great Nines. A line from the south-west corner of the Little Nines to the 
south-west corner of the Sackett tract, cuts the Great Nines diagonally 
from corner to corner, very nearly in two equal parts. The Sackett grant 
was recognized in the Little Nine grab. The west line of Oblong runs 
diagonally through it, entering the north bound near the north-west 
corner. This, makes a small portion of it at that place on the west to the 
south line of Amenia. come into the Great Nines on Lots 28 and 29, 
according to the survey. It is a reasonable inference that Richard Sackett 
and Augustine Graham were the formulators of the boundaries of the 
Little Nine Partner Patent. 

The large territory granted to the Little Nine Partners was greatly 
reduced by the establishment of the boundary or " Colony Line " between 
Connecticut and New York — several years later than the date of the 
patent — in 1731, which was then the west line of the Oblong. This being 
the eastern boundary in both grants — Little and Great Nines — their 
surveys stop here. Further, the greater part of the lands left bv this 
eastern cut off had been granted to the Great Nines in 1697, which they 
firmly held. This was the southern cut off, so that the "large tract of 
vacant land " was actually reduced to nearly the present townships of 
Milan, Northeast and Pine Plains. 

Three years after the establishment of the Colony line, the colonial 
Assembly of New York in 1734 passed "an act for the partition and 
division of a certain tract of land in Dutchess County granted to Sampson 
Broughton, Rip Van Dam, Thomas Wenham, Roger Mompesson, Peter 
Fauconnier, Augustine Graham, Richard Sackett and Robert Lurting. '' 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT 21 

No action was taken by the patentees under this act for partition or 
survey until nearly ten years later. But meantime, " Richard Sackett, of 
Dover," March 6, 1741, conveys to John Sackett, (his son) of Dover, "Two 
hundred acres of land lying within the Upper Nine Partners patent and 
lying in my ninth part where he shall take it best convenient for him 
before my part is divided or any division made thereon." Later, October 
20, 1741, we have a very interesting conveyance by Mr. Sackett and his 
two sons, as follows : 

" Capt. Richard Sackett and his two sons Richard Sackett, Jun., and 
John Sackett all of Crom Elbow Precinct in Dutchess County " convey to 
"Jolian Tise Smith of the Northern Precinct of said county yeoman." 
After reciting the patent to the Little Nines this conveyance says ' ' which 
said tract of land was by Her said Late Majesty by Letters patent under 
the said seal of the said province of New York bearing date the Twenty-fifth 
day of September in the seventh year (1708) of her Reign confirmed unto 
the said patentees, and whereas the said Rip Van Dam Peter Fauconnier 
Richard Sackett and Robert Lurting the surviving patentees, and the 
heirs and assigns of the said Sampson Broughton Roger Mompesson and 
Augustine Graham together with George Clark to whom the said grantees 
soon after the passing the aforesaid grant conveyed one equal undivided 
Ninth Part of the said whole tract, were desirous to make partition of the 
said whole tract in an Equal and Impartial manner and have obtained for 
that end an act of general Assembly of that province passed in the Eighth 
year of his now Majesty's Reign with a provisal that said act should not 
be of force until it had received the approbation of his most sacred 
majesties and whereas the said act since hath received the Royal appro- 
bation and the same transmitted to the Commander in Chief of the 
Colony and Entered in the minutes of Council, and the partition and 
Division of said tract of land remains still to be divided, and whereas the 
said proprietors of the said tract of land their agents or attorneys have 
mutually and fully agreed concluded and consented ( for a special con- 
sideration) that he the said Richard Sackett should have the choice of 
Three hundred acres of land * * * before any division were made of 
said tract of land wherever he, the said Richard Sackett should choose pitch 
on or cause to be laid out or surveyed in any part of said tract of land to 
be taken in one Entire piece in what shape or form he the said Richard 
Sackett should cause the same to be surveyed in, * * and the same 
resolution and agreement is accordingly entered in said minutes, and in 
pursuance thereof the said Richard Sackett hath caused to be laid out and 
surveyed three hundred acres of land Lying and being in said described 
tract of land in such shape or form as follows viz: Beginning at a 
swamp Oak Tree marked with six notches and two crosses, running from 
thence north seventy degrees east eighty chains, then north twenty 
degrees west thirty chains fifty links, then south seventy degrees west 
eighty chains, then south twenty degrees east thirty-seven chains fifty 
links to the first station (near an Indian Wigwam) containing three 
hundred acres of land, which said survey was performed by Mr. Mai'tin 
Hoffman Deputy Surveyor on the eighth day of this present month of 
October (1741). Now * * in consideration of the sum of one hundred 
and fifty pounds * * paid by Johan Tise Smith * * do freely clearly 
fully and absolutely grant * * excepting and reserving, for that 
whereas some Native Indians of said county and thex'e residing lay claim 
to some part of the above demised and granted premises, and it is hereby 
declared to be the true intent and meaning of all the persons to these 



22 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

presents that if in case the said Native Indians shall, may, or can lawfully 
hold the said hereby granted premises or any part or parcell thereof only 
by virtue of the present title or lawful claim which they now have and not 
otherwise to their heirs and assigns, that then for so much land or any part 
or parcel of the said granted premises as they their heirs or assigns shall 
may or can lawfully take off keep have and hold by their title which they 
now have and their present claim and no otherwise * * the said 
Richard Sackett, Richard Sackett Jun. and John Sackett shall within the 
space of six month after notice thereof to them, or any of them given, lay 
out unto the said Johan Tise Smith an equivalent thereof to be taken out 
of the said Richard Sackett his full ninth part of the whole above des- 
cribed tract of land as soon as the same shall be divided, to be taken in 
any part thereof where the said Johan Tise Smith his heirs or assigns shall 
pitch on or make choice of (except two hundred acres of land lately 
conveyed by the said Richard Sackett unto the said John Sackett to be 
choose first after such division ) and the same by twelve indifferent men 
then to be valued and appraised in proportion to such part as shall so be 
taken off as aforesaid whether buildings or improvements according to 
the value thereof * * that the said Richard Sackett, Richard Sackett Jun. 
and John Sackett are or one of them the sole true and lawful owners 
* * that they or one of them is solely rightfully lawfully and abso 
lutely seized thereof, * * and that they have or one of them hath good 
right lawful and full power and authority in themselves or in one of them 
to grant bargain sell alien and convey the land and premises hereby 
granted. 

JOHN SACKETT 
John Cook, RICHARD SACKETT, JUN. 

Jas. Wilson, Witnesses. RICHARD SACKETT." 

The receipt of Richard Sackett for 150 pounds, of the same date, is 
endorsed on the deed, and at the same date the Sackett grantors gave a 
bond to Smith of 609 pounds as guarantee of fulfillment. Smith gave a 
bond to Richard Sackett for forty-six pounds, eight shillings, as part 
payment of the one hundred and fifty pounds in this purchase. This 
original paper— an interesting relic of a printed form — I have. It reads, 
"Know All Men by these Presents, that I Johan tyse Smith of Stesint in 
Dutchess County and Province of New York yeoman am held and firmly 
bound unto Captain Richard Sackett of Dover in said County in the Sum of 
ninety-two Pound Eight Shilling Current Money of New York to be paid 
to the said Richard Sackett his certain Attorney, Executors, Administra- 
tors or Assigns. For the which Payment well and truly to be made and 
done I do bind me my Heirs, Executors, Administrators, and every one of 
them firmly by these Pre'ents. Sealedwith Seal. Dated the thirtyeth Day of 
October in the fifteenth year of His Majesty's Reign Annop ; Dom. One 
Thousand seven Hundred and fourty one. The Condition of this Obligation 
is such, That if the above bounden Johan tyse Smith his Heirs Executors 
or Administrators do well and truly pay or cause to be paid unto the 
above named Richard Sackett or his certain Attorney, Executors Admin- 
istrators or Assigns the just and full Sum of forty Six Pounds Eight 
Shillings current Money aforesaid at or before the first Day of May now 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. 2'S 

next ensuing, and that without Fraud, Cover or further Delay. Then this 
Obligation to he Void and of none Effect, or else to stand and remain in 
full Force and Virtue. 

Sealed and delivered in the Prence of John Cook, Jas. Wilson. " 
Decemher 11, 1741, "John Sackett by virtue of a power of Attorney 
from the within named Richard Sackett" assigned this paper to Charles 
Beekman and John David Woolf , who advanced the amount it called for. 
It seems queer now that such a conveyance should have been made, 
defining boundaries in an undivided tract of land. But its greater value 
is its historical facts. It informs us that Rip Van Dam, Peter Fauconier, 
Richard Sackett and Robert Lurting were the only surviving patentees, 
and George Clark who came in by purchase, in October, 1741. Another 
fact, the " Native Indians of said County, and there residing," and it is a 
very pleasing record, one that should place Richard Sackett in everlasting 
good remembrance — and also Johan Tise Smith, for he was one of ' ' all 
the persons to these presents," (see provisions of the deed above) — that he 
respected the claim of the Indian. These "Native Indians" were the 
Shacameco Indians of Moravian missionary annals, and Christian Henry 
Rauch, the first missionary to this tribe, had been here more than a year 
when the conveyance was made. The three hundred acres described in 
the bounds is in the form of a parallelogram, one mile long nearly east 
and west and 122 rods wide. The "Indian Wigwam" mentioned near 
the south west corner of the purchase was near the present dwelling on 
the Nancy Smith farm. The courses and distances from there include a 
portion of that farm, the Edward Huntting, the Dibble and the Deuel 
farms. The Shacameco village of converted Indians and their burying 
ground was on and near the boundary line between the Huntting and 
Smith farms above mentioned, southwesterly from the Moravian monu- 
ment. But Johan Tise Smith could not hold this tract and took 
Other lands in substitute, which will be noticed further on. 



CHAPTER IV. 



LITTLE NINE PARTNERS — OUTLINE SURVEY BY CHARLES CLINTON. 

In the spring of 1743 Charles Clinton, deputy colonial surveyor, made 
an "outline," or boundary survey of the Second, or Little Nine Partner 
tract, the journal or field notes of which is in Field Book No. 16, pp. 127- 
177, in the office of the Secretary of State, Albany. This was done 
preparatory to his dividing the patent into "Lots," which he did the same 
year, but it was not filed in the county clerk's office until the next year — 
1744 — according to which the allotment or division of the several owners 
was made. 

Richard Edsail had surveyed and made a map of the Great Nine 
Partner Patent in the spring of 1734, thus making a boundary line 
between the two Patents. This line (by his map) was recorded May 29, 
and thus became official so far as the Great Nine Partners were concerned. 
But for all this, some of the Great Partners were dissatisfied, and re- 
quested, or appointed, Jacobus Bruyn — better known as Brown — a few 
years later to run a boundary line. The north-west corner described by 
the patent was at the head waters of Fish Creek, and the surveyors differed 
in regard to the starting point of the survey. Brown's station was more 
southerly than Edsall's. Both ran due east, and Brown met the Oblong 
line a considerable distance south of Edsall's. 

Jacobus TerBoss was the next surveyor — in 1740 — to run a division 
line. He began at the same station where Edsail started from, and met 
the Oblong line very much north of the other two surveyors, and still later, 
in the spring of 1743, Mr. Clinton run a division line commencing south of 
Edsall's station, and his field notes tell how much each varied on reaching 
the Oblong line All the lines were to run due east. Clinton left his home 
Wednesday, April 27, 1743, and spent the night at Jno. Tenbrook's, in 
Po'keepsie. Thursday, 23, went to Mr. Ross's and engaged the men to 
assist in the survey. The next day he was sworn by Mr. Scott, a justice 
of the peace, after which Mr. Ross and several neighbors went with him 
to the head of Fish Creek. They found the lines of the other surveyors, 
but the difficulty seemed to be to find the head of the creek in the swamp, 
with its two branches. Monday, May 2, at night, Austin Creed and John 
Everson (of the Great Nines), having been previously sent for, came to 
help select a starting point. Tuesday, 3, Clinton and the two above 
proprietors in the Great Nines, looked the creek over up and down, and 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. '3.") 

about three o'clock in the afternoon John Sackett put in an appearance in 
behalf of himself and the other proprietors of the Little Nines. They 
finally settled upon a station at the south end of one of the Lots in the 
Beekman Patent, and run due east. 

The end of the sixth mile is on the west brow of Stissing mountain, 
nearly west from Attlebury station, on the N. , D. & C. R. R. Eighty rods 
further he came to the top, "a high Stony Hill good for little, the land to 
this is Indifferent Good." The east side "is poor pitch pine land," then 
met a swamp "excedingly Briarly," crossed "Whapings Creek which 
runs southerly." and twenty-eight rods beyond this is the end of the 
eighth mile, "at <»6'2 chs. 50 L. parted from a swamp and crossed a Road. 
Here left off for the night and Lodged at Hannas Row's." 

[Note. — This " Hannas Row " was the John Rau, the friend of the 
Moravians, "who lived in the neighborhood" of the Indian village at 
Shacameco, when Christian Henry Rauch first came in 1740. This rec- 
ord confirms a tradition that he lived at the time of the mission from 1740 
to 1740, in the "old long house " — long since gone — on the south part of the 
"Steger farm," now owned by Smith Sackett. It is about a mile from 
the place where Clinton crossed the road, that runs from Pine Plains to 
Po'keepsie, that Thursday nigh';, May 5th, 174'!. This was at the time of 
the greatest prosperity of the mission, and with which this Rau family was 
connected. It was in the immediate neighborhood of the mission and 
the Indian village. This record of Charles Clinton agrees perfectly with 
the Moravian historian and proves the tradition correct as to the residence 
of John Rau. He moved from here later and settled near Amenia Union, 
where he deceased.] 

The next morning he wrote two letters; one to Mr. Alexander, a 
proprietor in the Little Nines, and the other to Mr. Livingston, at Ancram, 
in regard to running the Manor line. The ninth mile is on the west side 
of the ridge south from Mulford Conklin's. "The land is well timbered 
with chestnut and black oak." The half mile post beyond that is on the 
east brow of Huntting Hill, a little way north-easterly from the summit. 
The tenth mile is a short distance north-easterly from the McCarty 
dwelling, twenty-four rods west of the brook, and the eleventh mile is on 
"Barren Land," on the western summit of Fish mountain. "At 902 
chains went down a very steep hill " (east side of Fish mountain), then 
•"crossed a Brook it runs north" (Shacameco), and continuing east the 
line crosses the present road near the residence of Mrs. Isaac Bryan. At 
thirteen miles and 124 rods "crossed a Path from Sharon to the Hudson's 
River," and fifteen miles and one hundred and twelve rods set a stake and 
heap of stones in the line of the Oblong in the cleared field of Baiter Slate. 
This was Saturday night, May 7, and Clinton went to Sharon and 
remained until Monday, the 9th. 

The Oblong line runs north 12 degrees east, and Jacobus Brown's line 
intersects it 1 20 rods and 85 links north of Clinton's. Two hundred rods 



26 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

85 links north of Brown's is Richard Edsall's, and 168 rods and 30 links 
north of Edsall's line is the line of Judge TerBoss. The four surveyors 
commenced at nearly the same station on Fish Creek, all running due 
east, but differed greatly upon reaching the Oblong line. Clinton's was 
the most southerly and Judge TerBoss's the most northerly, the difference 
between the two being one mile and 170 rods, ten rods over a mile and a 
half. The difference in the lines of Jacobus TerBoss and Robert Edsall 
was the origin of "The Gore" — a wedge shaped strip between the Great 
and Little Nines — which was brought into being by the special survey of 
Judge TerBoss for that purpose. In this regard his extreme variation 
north is significant, and Clinton deals in a little sly sarcasm in his refer- 
ence to this north line. This is what he wrote in his minutes : ' ' TerBoss- 
and Edsall both began at one station, which I have before described, and 
how TerBoss fell 42 chains 30 links to the northward of Adsell (Edsall) and 
very much to the northward of all the East Lines run, which I suppose is 
occasioned by some Great Error in his instrument. Mr. Brown's line and 
mine Differ least of any run there." The italics are mine. The "one sta- 
tion " was at Fish Creek, the west end of the line. 

Mr. Clinton run north on the Oblong line to meet the Livingston 
Manor line. At one mile and a half and 108 rods he came to the road to 
Salisbury. At one mile and three-quarters and fifty rods he "came to a 
Brook at Frederick Cline's smith shop" (near Irondale ), which was north 
of Mr. Livingston's random Manor Line, which had been recently run. 
Mr. Clinton at this time was to run the true line between the Little Nine's 
and the Livingston Manor, so upon reaching this random line of Livings- 
ton, he went no further. A shower came up and he went into Cline's 
house to avoid the rain, after which he started for the south bend of the 
Roloef Jansen. He went as far as Hendrick Hoespell's, a German doctor, 
then living in the present Myron Hamblin neighborhood, and there spent 
the night. This was Monday, May 9, 1743. 

Clinton was employed jointly by the Little Nines and Mr. Livingston 
in running the line between them at this time. While it formed a part of 
the outline survey of the Little Nines, it also was the boundary line for 
Livingston. Their lands joined. Mr. Livingston had a "random" line 
run not long before, but it was never corrected. Clinton was now to run 
the true line, and to do this he run first a random line, as he calls it, from 
the south bend of the Roloef Jansen to the east bounds of the Little Nines 
and on to the end of the Livingston patent. It was for this purpose that 
he left Frederick Cline's for the Roloef Jansen, and remained all night at 
the German doctor's. 

Tuesday, May 10, he wrote to Mr. Livingston that he was waiting for 
his surveyor to assist in running the Manor line, and then went to the 
south bend of the Roloef Jansen and lodged at Johannes Jacob Melius's, 
where Livingston had promised to send him some papers relating to the 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. 27 

Manor Line. No papers came. John Sackett, son of Richard Sackett, the 
patentee, was there in behalf of himself and others, owners of the Little 
Nine Partners. Mr. Clinton's assistants in this survey were Peter Bowery 
John Crossman, Frederick Wisser, Robert Langley and Isaiah Ross. 

[Note. — Tins Isaiah Ross was probably of the family of Capt. Thomas 
Ross, called "Baron Ross," who lies buried at Mount Ross. Isaiah Ross 
was one of the assignees of Roger Mompesson, a patentee in the Little 
Nines.] 

Mr. Melius, who lived 36 rods north westerly from the south bend of 
the Kill, directed Clinton to the place where Philip Livingston commenced 
his random line. (The south bend of Roloef Jansen is about a half-mile 
8. E. from Mount Ross). Before running east, he ran down the Kill a 
short distance to get Livingston's course, which he found to be near south- 
east and east. Meanwhile John Sackett, who had gone to Ancram 
furnace to see Livingston, returned with a letter from Livingston that his 
surveyor could not come before Tuesday of next week, but Mr. Clinton 
might go on with his random line. Wednesday, the 12th, Clinton wrote 
to Livingston that he would run his line, but would expect his surveyor 
would assist in running the true line. 

[Note. — The notes of this preliminary line are of interest, giving 
distance and description of land and places. He corrected the line 
afterward, locating it north of this random line, where it is now.] 

At 120 rods from starting point, "crossed the path from Sharon to the 
Hudson's River." At one mile and three-quarters and 12 rods came to the 
east bank of the Shacameco. Twenty-eight rods further entered an 
"excellent swamp, considerable part of it on the south side of the brook." 
At 832 rods — a little over two and a half miles — he crossed the Shacameco 
south of Hoffman's mill. There was no mill there then, but eight rods 
north of where he crossed the stream, he writes, " it has a fall in it fit for a 
mill and has high banks on each side, a fit place to make a mill." At four 
miles on the course he came to the house of Thomas Harvey, who had a 
cleared field. He lodged there. This was near the formerly Henry 
Hiserodt or Shultz place. This line was south of that pond and near it. 
Friday, the 13th, continued the course over ridge land with red and black 
oak and hickory saplings, and at six and a half miles entered the ' ' cleared 
field of Peter Silvernagle. " A chestnut tree on a bushy ridge without 
timber is marked for the eighth mile, and a half a mile and sixteen rods 
beyond that ' ' crossed the road from Salisbury to Ancram on which 
Livingston carts his ore" for his furnace. Here the land is not very well 
timbered. About nine and a half miles he was 32 rods north of Frederick 
Cline's, and 8 rods, 15 links east of the Oblong line. 

This was the end of the Little Nine Partner lands, but Livingston's 
patent called for lands on a line four miles further easterly, at two points 
called Sakaqua and Acwaisik (Aquasick), a large rock in Annowawick. 
(Livingston's patent says Nakawawick). He had sent Mr. Ross on to find 



28 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

some Indians who could show him these places, and awaited his return. 
Ross soon came with two Indians who knew the places, but Clinton could 
not get the course from what they said, so was obliged to go to the places 
himself. He therefore left his line and went to Salisbury and spent the 
night at the house of Thomas Bayless or Bayle. 

Saturday, the 14th, the two Indians, Cabrickset and Tasawight, 
conducted him to the place Sakaqua, and showed him a large pitch pine 
tree, "now dead," marked by a chip out of the east and west sides, stand- 
ing in a cleared field of Thomas Bayless. The Indians said this tree was 
marked by Justin Vosburg, 23 years ago — 1715 — by the direction of Mr. 
Livingston, who was then present. Cornelius Knickerbocker and Thomas 
Lamb were the interpreters for Mr. Clinton and these Indians. 

The course from this tree to Acquasik, the big rock, was south 49 
degrees west, distance 146 chains, 33 links — nearly two miles. These two 
eastern corners are between Ore Hill and Lakeville, and the lines had been 
run in October, 1714, by John Beatty, deputy surveyor, at which time the 
first Robert Livingston (patentee) was probably present, and had the trees 
marked according to the statement of these Indians. Mr. Clinton run 
from the big rock to his line, where he left it at the Oblong line. In doing 
so he run north-westerly nearly three miles and a half, then south-wester- 
ly three-quarters of a mile and came to the line. From the south bend of 
the Roloef Jansen to the east end of the line, by this "random line" of 
Clinton's it is about thirteen miles and three-quarters. Mr. Beatty, in 
1714, made it the same. Mr. Clinton's course on this line was south 68 
degrees east to the Oblong line. Tuesday, 17, Clinton returned to the 
south bend of the Roloef Jansen and commenced the line of the Livings- 
ton lands westerly to the river. 

He was engaged in this survey until Monday, November 7, 1743, when 
he prepared to correct his Livingston " random " line. Peter Bower and 
James Jackson were chain bearers, Frederick Haven marker, and 
John Hopkins baggage man. They left the south bend of the Roloef 
Jansen for for Nackawawick, the east end of the Livingston line, and 
spent the night at Cornelius Knickerbacker's, who lived in that neighbor- 
hood. The next morning — Tuesday, Nov. 8, — Clinton sent for Thomas 
Lamb, who, he writes, "was the first inhabitant at Anawa wick after the 
Indians, " and he and Mr. Knickerbacker showed him the Indian bounds 
of Nackawawick Clinton took the south-east corner of this Indian land 
for his station — Acwaisick, the big rock, was just out of the bounds — and 
run north 72 degrees west. At 48 rods he "crossed the road to Witauck." 
At two and a quarter miles came to "the south end of Tishasinks 
Mountain on a Rocky point," — near the late Major Woodworth's. About 
three miles and a half from beginning came to a pond ' ' opposite to an 
island in it." and at four and a half miles and twenty rods came to a 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. 29 

beaver's dam near the south end of a wild meadow — a short distance 
north of Ironclale. A snowstorm set in and they left off until the next 
morning. 

November !). At the fifth mile marked a hickory tree standing on 
the northeast side of the ridge north-westerly from Irondale and a mile 
and twenty rods beyond this "crossed the road to Hudson's River." This 
was the road from Salisbury to Ancram and thence to the river. There 
was then no other direct road to the river from Salisbury. Thirty-six 
rods beyond this road on this line lived the German doctor Hendrick 
Hoespell where — the day being wet and snowy — he spent the night. The 
line touched the south corner of the house. 

November 10, continued the line. Made an offset to the north at the 
pond — " Popsick pond" — in the Vosburg-Hiserodt neighborhood, and 24 
rods over twelve and a half miles crossed the Shacameco — near Chas. 

Rudd's. It being very late he left off for the night. The next morning 

Nov. 11, — reached the south bend of the Roloef Jansen. The distance 
from the bend to the stake at Nakawawick by this line is 24 rods over 
twelve miles and a half. From the bend to the west line of the Oblong — 
the east end of the Little Nines — is nine miles and 128 rods. This 
corrected line is now the line between the Livingston lands and the Little 
Nines, so far as they join, and is the present line for that distance 
between Dutchess and Columbia counties. His course from the south 
bend was south 72 degrees east. It is said now to be south 74 degrees 
39 minutes east. Clinton's distance along the Oblong line for the east 
boundary is two miles, 204 rods and 81 links. 

The four lines — Richard Edsall, Jacobus Brown, Jacobus TerBoss, 
better known as Judge Bush, and last of all Charles Clinton — caused 
border troubles in the two patents for many years. Clinton's line was the 
most southerly, next to his, northerly, was Jacobus Brown, then Richard 
Edsall, and then Jacob TerBoss the most northerly. The line of Richard 
Edsall became substantially the boundary between the two patents. The 
Great Nines was the earlier patent, was earlier surveyed, — 10 years — a 
map of lots made and recorded, lots sold and possessed therewith, and the 
possessors and owners fought it out on that line. The line of Jacobus 
Brown commenced on Fish Creek, a considerable south of Edsall, and 
runs east nearly parallel to his, and although run at the request of some of 
the Great Nine Partners, it was not deemed authority and it received no 
great attention. Clinton's line starting from nearly the same point as 
Brown, was run later than all, in the interests of the Little Nines, and is 
the south line in his map of the Little Nine Partners in the county clerk's 
office in Dutchess county. The Edsall line of the Great Nines cuts off 
nearly half of the south tier of lots on that map in the town of Pine 
Plains, and more than that going east and throws out that cut-off into the 
Great Nines. Thus Brown's line and Clinton's line are only such on maps. 



80 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

The line of TerBoss, put down on the maps as "Judge Bush," started 
from Edsall's station on Fish Creek and diverged northward in running 
east, leaving a wedge, or gore, the widest part where it intersects the 
Oblong line. This strip between Edsall and Bush was the "Gore," and 
was divided into four lots. The north line of the "Gore" is the present 
boundary between Pine Plains and Stanford, and is referred to in the act 
of 1823 dividing North East, Pine Plains and Amenia. The owners of the 
four lots comprising the Gore were in the end — except the east lot — 
squeezed out of their possessions, and their territory was held principally 
Jby the border and adjacent owners of the two respective patents. The 
•" Gore " was, in reality, a scheme of the land grabbers. 




CHAPTER V. 

LITTLE NINE PARTNERS — DEED OF PARTITION. 

The act of the Colonial Assembly in 1734 for the partition and division 
of this tract is in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany. It is 
minute in detail and too long to insert here. In accordance therewith 
Charles Clinton in the spring of 1743 made a survey of the tract, dividing 
it into sixty-three lots, and made a map of the same which was filed in 
the office of the county clerk at Po'keepsie, May 7, 1744. From the date 
of the patent to this time, some of the patentees had died, and others had 
assigned or sold, leaving the commissioners to assign the different lots and 
parts of lots in these cases to their heirs and assigns. The division was 
made this year and the deed of partition is dated October 19, 1644, and is 
as follows: 

"This Indenture made the Nineteenth day of October in the 
eighteenth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by 
the grace of God of Great Brittain ffranee and Ireland King Defender of 
the faith &c. , and in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred 
and fourty four Between Jacobus Swartwout Esq. Judge of the Inferiour 
Court of Common pleas of the County of Dutchess, Christopher Van 
Bomel and Anthony Yelverton Esqrs Justices of the same court of the one 
part, and Henry ffilkins Esq. High Sheriff of the same County of the other 
part witnesseth; that pursuant to an act of assembly of this province 
lately made and provided, for the more Easy partition of Lands a part of 
the tract of Land called the second Nine Partners Tract (which Tract and 
part thereof aforesaid are particularly described in the within application 
to the Sheriff for partition of the same part of the said Tract, To witt, that 
part of the said Tract represented by Maps hereunto annexed) the parties 
to these presents have assigned and do hereby assign unto the Honorable 
George Clark Esqr. the Lotts Number Thirty Eight, Number Fifty-four, 
Number Twenty-three, Number sixteen, Number six, Number forty-seven 
and Number sixty one ; unto James Graham ( son of Augustine Graham 
the patentee. — I. H. ) the Lotts Number forty Eight, Number Seventeen, 
Number fourteen, Number Twenty-Nine, Number Twenty-Five, Number 
Twenty seven and Number fifty five; Unto James Alexander Esqr. 
(assignee of Peter Fauconier — I. H.) the Lotts Number Ten, Number 
Twenty-Eight, Number thirty five. Number forty four, Number twenty, 
Number Two and Number Sixty; Unto Richard Sackett the Lotts Number 
Thirty -four, Number fourty Two, Number Thirty Seven, Number fifteen, 
Number Thirty two, Number Seven and Number Sixty Two; Unto Coll. 
Henry Beekman, Isaiah Ross and Martin Hoffman (assignees of Roger 
Mompesson. — I. H.) the Lotts Number Thirty-six, Number thirty three, 
Number forty-nine, Number forty six. Number four, Number Eighteen 
and Number fifty-seven; Unto Robert Livingston, Junr. one-third part of 
the Lotts Number Twelve, Number Nine, Number forty one, Number fifty, 
Number Twenty-six, Number Twenty-two and Number fifty-six, To witt, 



32 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

that part thereof marked with the letter E, and the other Two-thirds of the 
last named Seven Lotts marked D and F unto Robert Lurting his heirs and 
assigns; (January 29, 1733, Robert Lurting and Doras his wife "did grant 
Bargain, Sell, Alien, Enfoef , Release and Confirm" all his undivided ninth 
interest in the Little Nines unto Robert Livingston, Jun. and Richard Van 
Dam and Isaac Van Dam. the two sons of Rip Van Dam, thus making them 
equal and joint owners of his interest. — I. H.) Unto Matthew Van Alstyn 
one ninth part of the Lotts Number Eleven, Number Thirty, Number 
forty, Number Thirty-nine, Number forty five, Number three and Number 
fifty-nine, to Mitt, that part thereof marked with the Letter H; (these 
were the Rip Van Dam lots. — I. H.) One other Ninth part of the said Last 
Seven Lotts, to witt, that part thereof marked with the Letter G, unto 
James Alexander, Esqr. , and one other ninth part of the same last seven 
Lotts, to witt, that part thereof marked with the Letter I, unto Eghbert 
Eghbertse and the remaining two-thirds thereof marked with C and B, unto 
Rip Van Dam, Esqr., or his heirs or assigns; unto Tbomas Wenham his 
heirs or assigns the Lotts Number five, Number Twenty one, Number fifty- 
three, Number Thirty-one, Number thirteen, Number forty-three and 
Number Sixty-three; (Thomas Wenham died 1709. — I. H.) and unto Samp- 
son Shelton Broughton, his heirs or assigns, the Lotts Number fifty-one, 
Number Fifty -Two, Number Eight, Number Twenty -four, Number one, 
Number Nineteen and Number fifty-eight; (Sampson Shelton Broughton is 
an error, should be Sampson Broughton, see the patent and "Biographies. " — 
I. H.) as the said several Lotts and parts of Lotts are represented on the 
map hereunto annexed and particularly described in the Schedule hereunto 
annexed: To hold To the persons aforesaid respectively the several Lotts and 
parts of Lotts respectively assigned to them as aforesaid in Severalty for 
such estates as they respectively had therein before the making hereof, the 
several steps and directions of the said act having been previously com- 
plyed with as by the Minutes of the Court may appear. In Witness 
Whereof the parties to these present Indentures, have Interchangeably 
sett their hands and Seals the day and year above written. 

Jacobus Swartwout, [s.] 

Christopher Van Bomel, [s.] 
Antho Yelverton, [s. ] 

Henry Livingston, Clerk, [s.] 
Henry ffilkin, Sheriff. [s.] 
Sealed and Delivered by all the parties to these presents in the pres- 
ence of Jacob Rusten, Jun. 

John Crooke. 

This is a deed of great importance, as it contains the title to all the 
lands in the towns of Milan, Pine Plains and that part of North East not 
embraced in the Oblong, and by its aid all titles in this territory can go 
back to the King's patent. The field notes of the survey of the sixty-three 
lots, made bv Charles Clinton, deputy state surveyor, describing the 
"Trees and Stakes" of each corner of the lots, make seventeen pages in 
folio and are filed in the office of the county clerk at Po'keepsie. "Line 
fences" are now standing on many of the lot lines, and the corners are 
thereby easily found, although many changes have been made by subdivi- 
sion and ownership. 

The full lots by the survey are about one hundred and thirty -one chains 














so 
In 
tb 







LITTLE NINE TARTNER GRANT. 33 

north and south, and sixty-eight chains east and west, containing about 
nine hundred acres each. Those on the east, north and west borders, are 
fractional or irregular in their bounds, and vary accordingly in size. 

When this survey was made by Charles Clinton the northern boundary 
of the Great Nines was in dispute, and the Great Nines claimed that 
Clinton's survey had lapped upon them nearly half of his — Little Nines — 
southern tier of lots. Clinton's survey, according to his field notes, locates 
the southern boundary of the Little Nines (the east and west line) very 
nearly to the summit of Huntting Hill, which is nearly a mile southerly 
from the present north boundary of Stanford. Easterly from thence the 
same line runs about sixty rods south of Mr. Samuel Titus' dwelling and on 
easterly, crossing the highway near the dwelling of the late Isaac Bryan 
north of Shacameco, and on the same course to the Oblong. The same 
line runs westerly to the south west corner of the patent, where it meets 
the Great Nines. This amount of territory which overlapped the Great 
Nines in the Little Nine survey was the " Gore," so much talked about in 
those days. And even as late as February 10, 1823, Reuben W. Bostwick, 
then town clerk of North East — Pine Plains was then included in that town 
— refers to it in a letter to John Savage, the Comptroller, in regard to quit 
rents. The letter says : " North East, Feby. 10, 1823. D'r Sir: At a 
meeting of the Freeholders of the Town of North East in Dutchess County 
on Saturday the 8th of this Inst, they requested me being Clerk of s'd Town 
to forward you the annexed statement of the lotts in the Little Nine Part- 
ners patent subject to payment of quit rent. And they wish from you a 
statement mentioning the amount due on said lotts according to an act of 
the Legislature passed April 3d, 1821." Mr. Bostwick then gives the num- 
ber of the lots subject to quit rent, and writes: "The above lotts in the 
first range on the south line of said patent from No. 9 to No. 18 are only 
half Lotts, the Gore so called after determining the final Line between this 
patent and the Great Nine Partners patent took off a little more than half 
of these lots in said first range." 

To possess this Gore by the early settlers who purchased lands respect- 
ively in both patents and adjoining, caused many a contest of force and 
arms, and of law. They had purchased according to the respective 
recorded maps of each grant and claimed all they bought. Possession was 
nine points, and in reference to this an instance or two will be mentioned. 

The Great Nine Partners Patent was surveyed by Richard Edsall, and 
the map of his survey bears date May 29, 1734. The Gore, so called, was 
surveyed by Jacobus Ter Boss — better known perhaps as "Judge Bush" — 
in 1740. He divided it into four lots, numbering from the west end. Lot 
one was small, and wedge shaped. Number two was larger, and came in 
some way to Augustine Graham. Number three contained about seven 
hundred acres, and number four, the extreme easterly lot, contained about 
thirteen hundred acres, and was possessed by Henry Filkin. Number 



34 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

three was in the locality of the Phineas Carman mill, and west from that, 
and was bounded southerly by lot nineteen of the Great Nines, and easterly 
by the Gore lot four, of Filkin. It came to Caleb Heathcote but very soon 
thereafter came to Jacob Hoff and Isaac Germond one quarter, Cornelius 
and Theodore Van Wyck, of Rombout, each one quarter, and the heirs of 
John De Graff one quarter. August 15, 1741, "Johannes Rau of Cram El- 
bow, Yeoman" — better known as Moravian John Rau — purchased the in- 
terests of three of the above proprietors, and in 1746 resold to the parties of 
whom he purchased, not being peaceably possessed under his title. These 
different interests served to increase the confusion. The Gore interest was 
in the vise of the Little and Great Nines and was soon squeezed out. Thus 
the two interests of the respective imtentees came together, who with 
those holding under them continued the contest for over half a century. 
As an index to the difficulties of the proprietors on the border, one instance 
will be noticed. 

By the partition deed of Little Nines, lots fourteen and seventeen, with 
other lots, were assigned to Augustine Graham. He being deceased at 
the date of that division, they came to Jiis son James Graham and are 
placed to his name on the map. Lot fourteen was two hundred and sixty- 
four rods wide and five hundred and twenty-four rods long north and 
south. It includes the Phineas Carman mill, that being on the southern 
half. This was debatable ground, and the saw and grist mill made it worth 
fighting for. Lawrence Wiitsie held part of this lot by lease from James 
Graham from 1745 to 1759. It was then held by James Atwater, who sold 
his lease to Gideon Salisbury. Jonathan Darling was his successor and he 
was succeeded by Edmund Reynolds about 1790. The mill property was 
not included or not contested for by these lessees. One Joseph Harris who 
owned lands in the Great Nines, was the first trespasser. In 1768 he took 
possession as Mr. Augustine Graham writes ' ' by getting a number of peo- 
ple, and in the night with these hands, did take and make a brush fence 
which he calls a possession fence and did hold possession until his death 
(about 1786.— I. H.) when the property came into the hands of Brinton 
Payne, then into the hands of Coonrad Smith," who held possession under 
this claim until 1789, when Graham commenced a suit for ejectment. 
Smith then released his right of possession to Graham, and took a lease 
from him for one hundred and fifty acres, which contained the saw and 
grist mills. The object of this lease was to put Graham in possession. 

Coonrad Smith took the mill March 25, 1789, which is the earliest rec- 
ord I have of the existence of this mill. Tradition states it was built about 
forty years earlier. The lease calls for the yearly rent of one hundred and 
twenty bushels of wheat, one hundred bushels to be ground " toll free" and 
the payment of all taxes. The lease is witnessed by Joseph Ter Bush — 
alias Ter Boss, modern only Bush — and Jonathan Holmes. It was not 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. 35 

given or made until July 23, 1790, a year and four months after possession 
and a bond accompanies the same in the penal sum of live hundred pounds 
for its fulfillment. 

Meanwhile Piatt Smith, brother to Judge Isaac Smith, by threats and 
otherwise of dispossession, obtained a delivery of the mill from Coonrad 
Smith only a few days after the date of the lease to Graham. This was 
fighting the fire in another direction, and a hearing was had before Philip 
Spencer, Esquire. "Gabriel Dusenbury being sworn, says he see Mr. 
Smith deliver possession to Piatt Smith, but there was no delivery of the 
barn. Mr. Moredock said that Coonrad Smith give up the barn in his 
hearing afterwards, but see no delivery. Mr. George Plum sworn and 
says he was hired to attend the mill by Coonrad Smith, and that Mr. 
Smith ordered him to deliver one-half the toll to Piatt Smith. Mr. Coon- 
rad Smith says that his intentions was it should go towards paying Mr. 
Smith off as he owed him." This is some of the testimony in this case to 
which Mr. Graham adds: "On Saturday the 14th (August) Mr. Coonrad 
Smith called on the miller for the accounts of the mill to know what had 
become of the grain Mr. Piatt Smith had out of the mill. He refused on 
the whole, declared he was employed by P. Smith, though the day before 
he swore he was employed b} r Coonrad Smith." 

Piatt Smith went to New York to see Governor Clinton in regard to 
these troubles, and the Governor wrote Mr. Graham this letter: 

' ' New York, 6th December 178U. Sir — Your neighbor Mr. Smith called 
upon me this day to know whether I was connected with you in a suit 
which you have brought against one of his tenants for the recovery of 
lands. I have informed him (as the truth is) that I am not and I have re- 
peated to him the opinion which I always entertained and expressed on 
this subject to wit, that it would be much more elligible for both parties 
to have the Line between the Great and Little Nine Partners amicably ad- 
justed and settled, than to enter into litigation respecting it. A suit will be 
attended with expense and trouble, create heats and animosities in the 
neighborhood, and after all this, will not finally decide the question, where- 
as an amicable adjustment of the Line will prevent these evils and put a 
final end to the business. If then a general submission of the dispute can- 
not be obtained I shall prefer a distinct friendly settlement with my 
neighbor rather than a suit at law. I am with great respect your most 
Obed't Serv't. GEORGE CLINTON." 

"Mr. Augustine Graham." 

Mr. Graham persisted in his suit in opposition to the advice of Clinton, 
and was defeated. "The greater part of the jury," he writes, "was more 
or less concerned on the line between the two patents and it went against 
me." His attorney was Morgan Lewis. Jacob Radcliff was the attorney 
for Smith. To prove his possession since 1745 Mr. Graham's witnesses as 
he names them were "Peter Weaver, Adam Weaver, Johan Tice Smith 
and his wife, Matthias Hoffman and his brother Tice Hoffman, with their 
half brother Christian Hoffman, Jonathan Darling, Michael Row, Rufus 
Herick, John Wiltsie, Matthias Wiltsie, and Gabriel Dusenberry and his 
wife." 



36 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

The decision of this suit put Piatt Smith in possession and owner for 
the time being, and Edmund Reynolds, who in 1772 had leased about 
eighteen acres of "meadow" on this disputed tract from Morris Graham 
brother to Augustine and also one of the executors in the will of James 
Graham, now took a lease from Piatt Smith for his meadow. Other parties 
having a like interest did the same. 

Mr. Graham claimed "to the First (Great) Nine Partner line" which 
was the one run by Edsall in 1734, and to this held with an impolitic ten- 
acity. He had similar troubles on his lot seventeen, which is the third lot 
easterly from fourteen, and lies under the summit of the mountain. The 
north part he sold to John Seaton and in 1774 sold two hundred and 
twenty-five acres on the southern part to Ebenezer Craw for forty-five 
shillings per acre. He refused to pay, as the land was claimed by parties 
having adjoining lands. In 1792 or 3 Mr Graham commenced a suit for 
ejectment against Craw and another at the same time against Piatt 
Smith. 

Craw and Smith and other parties like interested had a conference with 
Graham in regard to the settlement of the difficulty, but were unsuccessful, 
as their "offer to me," writes Mr. Graham, "was such that it did not suit 
me to take up with." 

Mr. Graham was not the only man of troubles in this locality. Richard 
Sackett had lot fifteen, the lot adjoining fourteen on the east, in the parti- 
tion of the Little Nines. In his will dated December 14, 1744, he devised 
his property to his children and grandchildren, and appointed his wife 
Margary, Richard and John his sons, executoi's. He provided that each 
of the heirs should be at an equal expense, should any suits arise respecting 
his title of these lands, and in case they should not agree to that, his execu- 
tor should have power to sell so much of the property of those refusing as 
to answer the demands of their proportionate expense. Richard Sackett 
Sen., died in 1746, and his son Richard refused to act as executor and share 
in the expenses of the defense of the titles, whereupon May 10, 1749, Mar- 
gary and John, the remaining executors, sold four hundred acres on lot 
fourteen to " Hendrick Nase of Crom Elbow." Consideration one hundred 
and forty pounds. Hendrick Nase died possessed of this, but during his 
life time the deed was "burglariously taken from his dwelling" and mean- 
time the widow of Richard Sackett deceased. April 3, 1760, John Sackett, 
the sole executor, in consideration of forty shillings gave a deed to Philip 
Nase, son of Hendrick, for the same four hundred acres. 

In the settlements on the border line a portion of these lands were 
taken by other parties, and about 1783 or 4 the heirs of Philip Nase com- 
menced suit for ejectments, wherein all the evidences of the "line" and 
possession, were brought in. So far as I know the parties in posses- 
sion held the lands in both cases, the plaintiffs being defeated. The lands 



LITTLE NINE PARTNER GRANT. 



37 



on the border in this locality were very valuable and worth the fight. 
Small amounts of land however, all along the line were "slashed" around 
by the earliest settlers, and titles to various amounts have in this way 
been acquired by possession. 




Old Pine Tree on Pine Street. 
Taken January, 1894. (See Lineage.) 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

The primitive and special object of this work is the town of Pine 
Plains. Bnt until the organization of this town in 1823, it was part of 
"North East Precinct," which later became "North East Town" in 1788. 
Milan, North East and Pine Plains were one, and hence it is impossible in 
their civil and military organization to keep either distinct or separate, 
until they were respectively formed and made independent by legislative 
enactment. This was referred to in chapter first, and is now mentioned 
to anticipate what will hereafter follow, which will be more general in its. 
historical import than special. 

There were no proprietor settlors in the territory of the Little Nine 
Partners previous to 1744, the date of the division or partition of that tract. 
No title could be given previous to that, as it was undivided, and all occu- 
pants with intent to settle, were simply squatters, having a hope prospect- 
ive. Two years after this partition — Dec. 1G, 174(5 — " North East Precinct" 
was formed, which included all the territory of the Little Nines, and now 
included in tlie towns of Milan, Pine Plains, and that part of North East 
not in the Oblong. Very little progress was made in settlement in this ter- 
ritory until about 1755, when a law was passed giving a toicnshij) organi- 
zation to the lands in the patents. It is said this system was suggested by 
Lieutenant Governor James De Lancy to the General Assembly in the fall 
of 1754. The act was passed in accordance therewith, and the settlement 
and population increased quite rapidly in some localities. 

The eastern part of the Precinct, now North East, has the earliest set- 
tlers, many coming to the Oblong adjoining, where good titles could be 
obtained earlier than from the Little Nines. These settlers were principally 
from New England. Winchell Mountain was a barrier against any move- 
ment west by the eastern settlers, and the same also from any great emi- 
gration easterly from those west of it. 

Robert Livingston, the first land patentee, had no "partners," and his- 
manor lands were thus earlier taken under a lease, principally by the Pal- 
atines, who, after the breaking up of the "Gamp" on the east side of the 
Hudson river about 1715, filled the valley of the Roeloff Jansen and the "fer- 
tile lands" of Copake, the latter being the ancient Takhanick of the Indian. 
Others from the same source — the Camp — at a later date, about 1750, set- 
tled in the valley of the Shacameco from its intersection with the Roeloff 
Jansen, towards its source southeasterly to the vicinity of the PhineasCar- 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 39 

man mill, where they were met hy settlers of a New England ancestry, who 
had located at an earlier date in and around the " Federal Square, " so called 
in later years. These had come principally from Connecticut, by way of 
southern Oblong and Amenia. The western border of the precinct was ad- 
jacent to the Palatine settlements in Red Hook and Rhinebeck, from whence 
came the drift of kin toward the east. These are the general features of the 
earliest settlement of this Precinct. Immigration for a decade and a half 
subsequent to 17G0 from other localities, was of a different character, and 
all combined gave the precinct a good representation in the Revolutionary 
war. Reference to the action of the Precinct in regard to this war will 
give the names of the settlers at that time. 

The first "Provincial Congress" of New York, met in New York City, 
May 22, 1775, and Peter Van Brugh Livingston was its president. It held 
three sessions, May 22, July 2(5, October 4, and dissolved November 4, 1775. 

The second Provincial Congress was elected November 7, 1775, con- 
vened Nov. 14, 1775, and remained in force — having several sessions — until 
the second Tuesday of May, 1776. 

The third Provincial Congress was elected in April, 1776, convened" in 
New York May 18, and remained in session until June 30, when it dis- 
solved, as Admiral Howe appeared at Sandy Hook with a fleet having a 
portion of the British army. 

In consequence of the British having possession of New York, the 
fourth Provincial Congress met at White Plains July 9, 1776, when the 
Declaration of Independence was received and approved unanimously, and 
on the following day, July 10, it was "resolved and ordered that the style 
and title of this house be changed from that of the ' Provincial Congress of 
the Colony of New York' to that of ' The Convention of the Representatives 
of the State of New York.'" 

This "Convention" — afterwards so called — changed its sittings to Har- 
lem July 29, 1776, to Fishkill August 29, where it had short sessions at dif- 
ferent times until February 11, 1777, when it adjourned to Kingston. Here 
it met March 6, 1777, adopted the State constitution April 20, 1777, and 
dissolved May 13, 1777. The peril and travail of the Colony of New York 
had passed, and the State of New York was born. 

During the recesses of these congresses their powers were assumed and 
exercised by a "Committee or Council of Safety," so called and frequently 
mentioned in the military papers of that time. They raised troops, com- 
missioned officers, disbursed taxes, and defined and punished offences 
against society and the government, including treason. 

"At a meeting of committees from the Precincts of Rhinebeck, North 
East, Amenia and Rumbout in the County of Dutchess, held at Charlotte 
Precinct in the said County on Friday, April 14, 1775, Messrs. Morris 
Graham, Robert R. Livingston, Jim. and Egbert Benson were elected dep- 
uties to represent the said county in the Provincial Congress at the city of 
New York on the 20th instant, and to represent the respective Precincts, 



40 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

who have sent committees to this meeting." Committee for Rhinebeck, 
John Van Ness, Robert R. Livingston, Jim. Committee for North East, 
Morris Graham, William Stewart. Committee for Amenia, Jno. Chamber 
lain, Brinton Paine, Silas Marsh. 

The next day after the adjournment of the convention in New York 
City to attend which the above delegates were chosen, the report of the 
battle of Lexington arrived. Very soon thereafter, not more than ten days, 
a sort of pledge and protest against the government of England was gen- 
erally circulated for signatures throughout the province of New York. It 
first appears for "Goshen, Orange Connty, April 29, 1775." The following 
is a copy : 

"GENERAL ASSOCIATION. 

' ' A general association agreed to and subscribed by the Freeholders 
and inhabitants of the County of Orange (name of County was changed to 
correspond with locality. — I. H.) in the Province of New York. Persuaded 
that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America depend under God, 
on the firm union of its inhabitants in a vigorous prosecution of the meas- 
ures necessary for its safety, and convinced of the necessity of preventing 
the anarchy and confusion which attend a dissolution of the powers of 
government, We the freemen, freeholders and inhabitants of the county of 
Orange being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the Ministry to 
raise a revenue in America, and shocked by the bloody scene now acting in 
the Massachusetts Bay, Do in the most solemn manner resolve never to be- 
come slaves, and do associate under all the ties of religion, honor and love 
of our country to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution whatever 
measures may be recommende 1 by the Continental Congress, or resolved 
upon by this Provincial Congress for the purpose of preserving our consti- 
tution and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and oppressive 
acts of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between Great Britain 
and America on constitutional principles (which we most ardently desire) 
can be obtained ; and that we will in all Kiings follow the advice of our re- 
spective committees, respecting the purposes aforesaid, the preservation of 
peace and good order and the safety of individuals and private property. " 

The substance of this was a pledge to sustain the action of the Conti- 
nental Congress or General Colonial Congress at Philadelphia, and the Pro- 
vincial Congress of New York, and also sustain the committees appointed 
by each, as the Committees were delegated the power of Congress during 
its adjournments. 

North East Precinct was apportioned into districts for the circulation 
of the "Association," and committees assigned to each district to make the 
canvass. Those willing to sign it, wrote their names or ordered the commit- 
tee to do it, which was so entered on the roll, and those refusing to sign 
were enrolled by the committee. Thus canvass was made in June and 
July, 1775. 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 41 

Charles Graham and Henry Sherburne, committee from one district, 
report as signers, "Henry Sherburne, Jonathan Lewis, John Hibbard, 
Theophilus Wadleigh, Timothy Soaper, Samuel Smith, Daniel Soule, Absa- 
lom Trowbridge, Stephen Atwater, Isaac Smith, Peter Vandnsen, Bzekiel 
Rile, Samuel More, Nathan Lounsbery, Andrus Stickle, Cornelius Viller, 
Benjamin Knickerbacker, Jun., Caleb Reynolds, Jacob Lesh, Benjamin 
Atwater, Titus Mead, David Robins, Peter Smith, Jesse Cornall, Jeremiah 
Shaw, Joseph Crary, Thomas Hill, Moses Dolph, Ira Winans, Peter Smith, 
Jun., Epanetus Lounsbery, Christian Cambell, John Schermerhorn, Peter 
Van Luven, David Fisk, Sheubel Holmes, Petrus Hommel, Caleb Fince, 
Eliphalet Piatt, Isaac Young his mark, Benj'n Ter Bush, Wilhelm Finke, 
William Smith his mark, John Stuart, William Mansfield, Philip Smith, 
Phineas Rice, Jun., by order, John Knickerbacker, Benjamin Knicker- 
backer, Richard Gray, Isaac Wood, James Young, Gabriel Dusenberry, 
Benjamin Crandel his mark, Motise Wiltsie, Adam Snider, Michael Row, 
Jun., Jacob Weaver, John Robins." 

List of Persons not signing it, "John George Herrick, Leonard Smith, 
Nicolas Smith, Daniel McConnelly, Hontice Smith, Senior, Hontice Smith, 
Junior, Jonathan Griffin, William Melious, Jonathan Devall, the reason 
he assigns for not has taken an oath under the King, Hendrick Younk- 
haus, John Pulver, Peter Pulver, Philip Snyder, John Weaver, Harry 
Weaver, Tice Wilsey, William Merrifield, Motice' Row, Michael Simmons, 
Cornelius Clark, Peter Weaver, Michael Row, Sen., Lockland Mcintosh, 
Alexander Mcintosh, William Mcintosh, Andrus Pulver, William Rector, 
Valentine Emet, John Stickle, Hendrick Keerfer, Hendrick Hoofman, Ben- 
jamin Vanleuvan, Isaac Vanleuvan, Hendrick Row, Benjamin Wilbur, 
Jacob Melious, Jun., John Bearry, Jacob Louke, Wandel Pulver, Michael 
Smith, John Peter Row, Tise Smith. 

"July 5, 1775, we the subscribers being legally chosen as a sub commit- 
tee, and do return all the names of persons who has signed the above asso- 
ciation and likewise the persons who did not sign on the back. 

Chas. Graham, 
Henry Sherburne. " 

George Morehouse from his district in this precinct reports as signers 
"Ebenezer Bishop, Cornelius Fuller. Thomas Crosby, David St. John, Reuel 
Seeton, Ebenezer Craw, Jun., Chas. Truesdall by his order, Levi Stalker, 
David Bulkley, Joseph Jackson. Thomas Crosby, Jun., Willard Seeton, 
Philip Lot, Wheaton Robinson, Ebenezer Merritt, George Morehouse, James 
Winched, Joseph Stalker, John Seton, Vinant Foster, Ebenezer Coan, John 
Housdell, James Covel, Levi Rawlee, Jonathan Grenell, Benjn. Crosby, 
Comfort Stalker, John Wilks, Thomas Townsend, Benjamin Covey, Caleb 
Woodward." 

Names of those refusing to sign, "John Mc Alpine, Daniel Mc Alpine, 
Walter McAlpine, Darby Lindsey, ■ McQueen, a young man lately 



42 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

from Scotland. Lewis Bryan, James Bryan. The above and foregoing is a 
true return of the names that was willing to sign this foregoing association, 
and the names of those in the district that refused are on the other side of 
this association paper July 5, 1775. 

pr. Geo. Morehouse, Subcommittee," 

William Stewart, Nathaniel Mead, J. Simmons and Frederick Ham 
from their districts report as signers, ' ' Silas Husted John Wiltsie, Gideon 
Salisbury, John Sharer, David Orr, John Kayes, William Orr, Samuel 
Crandell, Morris Graham, Henry Sherburne, Augustine Graham, John 
Colvin, John Colpland, Asa Bullock, Daniel Palmer, Samuel Crandell, Jim., 
John Row, Israel Thompson, Janus Ralston, Edward Fouary, George Head, 
James Hitt, Benjamin Southard, J. Simmons, Cornelius Delamater, Rob- 
ert Enery, Casper Rouse, John Crandell, Cornelius McDaniel, PhineasRice, 
James Newcomb, Samuel Miller, John Brown, William Stewart, John 
Head, Lemuel Winchell, Barnard Ostrim. John Melham, Benjamin Cuth- 
bert, George Schnej'der, Smith Simmons, Cornelius Wells, Simeon Gifford, 
Benjamin Conger, Joseph Crandell, James Stephens, John Lennon. James 
Winchell, Andrew Quick, Bastain Row, Claudius Delis, Caleb Norton, John 
Burnet, Samuel Conger, John Latton, Jonathan Mead, Simeon J. Myer, 
Lemuel Williams, Ensley Simmons, John Williams, John Hoff, Isaac 
Lamb, William Henry C. Perry, George Robertson, Richard Estes, John 
Far, Orra Ferguson, Nathaniel Mead. Lemuel Reed, Carel Nehr, Asa Bishop, 
James Stuart, Aaron Darling." 

Names of those refusing to sign, "Nicholas Silvernail, Oliver Austin, 
George Frothingham, Elisha Colver, Nathaniel Niles, John Van Kamp, 
Thos Gray, Asa Brown, Leenes Feeler, Coonrad Melham, John Hartuf, 
John Smith. John Sheridan, Philip Eastis, George Mortain, Daniel North, 
Casper Bill, John Wilde, William Mills, Abraham Ostrander, Jacob Brim- 
stool, Henry Tiets, Jacob Doucher, Abraham Scouten, Jacob Vanbramer, 
Richard Eavery, Christopher Teal, Robert Embury John Pitcher, Aaron, 
Shaw, Robert North, Matthew Winter, Richard Wilde, Obadiah Gifford, 
A true return of the names of the inhabitants and freeholders of the sev- 
eral districts allotted to us to hand about this association. A return of the 
names of thofe who refused to sign to this association are on this side of 
this paper. 

Test. William Stewart, J. Simmons, Nathaniel Mead." 

Joseph Ketchum reports as signers, "Joseph Ketchum, Jonathan 
Mapes, Samuel Denton, Ephraim Jones, Jun. . Hezekiah Ketchum, Joseph 
Ketchum, Jun., Samuel Egelston, Sen., his mark, Samuel Egelston, Jun., 
Seth Calkin, Moses Calkin, Joshua Hamblin, Ben jamin Perry, Anthoe Van - 
ery, Jared Carter, Isaac Rogers, Jonathan Close, Abner Wilcox, Richard 
Denton, David Calkin, Josiah Wilcox, Daniel Baker, Jonathan Dolph, 
Alden Ashley, Josiah Perry, Elijah Calkin, Nathan Atwood, Joseph Rey- 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 43 

molds, Jim., Joseph Rogers, William Hagen, Ebenezer Beach, Charles How, 
Libbeus How, Joshua Dakin, Nathaniel Lothrop. A true return of the 
names of the inhabitants and freeholders in the district appointed for me 
to hand about this association. 

pr. Joseph Ketchum." 

Hugh Orr, Daniel Wilson, Peter Knickerbacker and Johannes Reiven- 
berger in committee report as signers, "Samuel L. Roe, Elisha Mead, John 
Orr, Joseph Leggat, John Crandle, Daniel Wilson, Ebenezer Young, Dan- 
iel Parks, Hugh Rea, Robert Orr, Jehiel Mead, William Smith, Hugh Orr, 
Samuel Mott, David Love, David Hamblin. Peter Knickerbacker, Sen., 
Peter Knickerbacker, Jun. , Robert Wilson, John Wilson, Godwin Sliter, 
William Rea, Jesse Ferris, Joseph Palmer, Jun., James Hedding, SethFish, 
Marcus Hedding, Jeremiah Gifford, Frederick Stickles, John Fulton, Ed- 
ward Edsed, John May, Lawrence Knickerbacker, James Knickerbacker, 
James Wilson, Jun , John Casey, Matthew Orr, Joseph Foster, Winthrop 
Norton, John Palmetor, Abner Jackson, Isaac Winans, William Winans, 
James Wilson, Sen., John Link, John Rouse, Benjamin Soule, Joseph 
Sarlsbury, Sen., David Bostwick, John Bartel, John Avery, Jonathan 
Smith, Samuel Crandell, Peleg Horton, Moses Fish, Asahel Owenell, Wil- 
liam Parks, Stephen Edget, George Edget, Jun. , John Holmes, William 
Robins, Michaelmas Field, John Carpenter, Elijah Lake. " 

Refusing to sign this association, "Jacob Miltmore, Jonathan Bathrick, 
William Bathrick, Peter Allen, Jacob Drum, Nicholas Row, John Drum, 
Jun., William Clum, Philip Clum, Jacob Loucks, Jun., Isaac Allen, Zechri 
Tiets, John Hapeman, John Houk, John Row, John Krister, George Miner, 
Zachariah Philips, Yerre Kiefer, Frederick Destin, Peter Pitcher, Andrus 
Houk, Honeyfelt Shaur, Andrew Colbox, Hontise Couse, Jacob Hover, 
John AVhite, William Green, Amos Avery, Daniel Mead, John Bous, Peter 
Bous, John Drum, John Backer, Marts Kresser, Jacob Row, Adam Pitcher, 
Peter Bassoin, Simeon Kilmer, Sen. , Wanant Weaver, John Houghtaling, 
Andrew Collson, Joseph Mott, Nehemiah Avery, Michael Colony, Elisha 
Davis, William Davis, Jacob Couse, Isaac Houghtaling, Derick Fendik, 
Elijah Ferguson, Laban Crandell, Gerret Holsop, John Link, Peter Couse, 
Jacob Houghtaling, Yost Hendrickwise Row, Frederick Horn, Jeremiah 
Ferguson, John Fillips, Frederick Stickle, Jacob Shaver. North East Pre- 
cinct, June and July, 1775. The foregoing is a true return of the names of 
the inhabitants and freeholders in the district allotted to us that signed this 
association. And the names of them that are on the other side are the 
names of those who refused to sign this association. 

Test. Hugh Orr, Daniel Wilson, Peter Knickerbacker, Johannes 
Reivenberger. " 

The foregoing list is made from the inhabitants residing west of Stis- 
sing Mountain. 



44 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Uriah Lawrence in the extreme east end of the Precinct, reports as 
signers, ' ' Seth Case, Jun. , Benoni Welldien, Charles Graham, Ichabod Case, 
John Bull, Benjamin Eggleston, Luther Hawley, Josiah Hawley, David 
Lawrence, Abraham Hartwell, Joseph Randall, Uriah Lawrence, Philip 
Spencer, John Porter, Elisha Colver, Samuel Neeley, Samuel Row, David 
Harvey, Seth Case, Thomas Merritt, James Wager, Stephen Truesdel, Jon-, 
athan Lawrence, Ebenezer Hartwell, Seth Perry, Ebenezer King, Gilbert 
Clapp, Jeremiah Brownell, James Atwater, Joseph Peck, Joshua Hamblin, 
Archabel Johnston, Simon Dakin, Stephen Merritt, Alexander McMullin, 
Adam Stevens, John Buttolph, Thomas Knapp. 

Refusing to sign, Daniel Buttolph, Peter Knapp, John Hawley. 

Uriah Lawrence, Committee." 

Elisha Colver is put down as a signer of the association in the list of 
Uriah Lawrence and is put down as "refusing to sign" in the list of Wil- 
liam Stewart, Nathaniel, Mead, etc., Elisha Colver, Sen., was one of 
"His Majesty's Justices," had taken oath as such under the King, and was 
living at this time. He could not sign this association, holding that office, 
without violating his official oath. He had a son Elisha, who probably is 
the signer. 

Some names in these lists appear on more than one paper which repre- - 
sent the same person. It may be by solicitation or change of opinion 
where, in some instances, those against, changed to the other side. But 
taken together, it is nearly if not absolutely, a complete record of the male 
inhabitants of the North East Precinct in 1775. 

In its register it presents a long list of non-associators, which in per- 
sons deserve a charitable thought and record. The love of liberty 
and independence of thought in early manhood and middle age, is much a 
matter of education and surroundings in early life. This Precinct received 
many of its first immigrants or settlers from the Hudson River settlers, 
(Palatines) who were educated to believe "the powers that be are ordained 
of God." In such— and there were many of influence— conscience worked 
either neutrality or active opposition. Many names in the records of the 
old Hudson River churches I recognize here, and with significant uniform- 
ity they are on the lists of non-associators. Others held back from motives 
of policy. It was a fearful experiment to take arms against the king. 
There was a mingling of indecision, doubt and confidence, which engen- 
dered and fed internal hostility and bitterness. It was condemnation to be 
called "tory,"to be watched by committees of safety, and sentenced by 
courts martial to imprisonment or death. For two years American inde- 
pendence hung by a gossamer. The pendulum of war swung between self 
government and obedience to kings, between liberty and slavery. But 
success came with the victories of 1777. The battle of Oriskany, of Bemis 
Heights, of Bennington, of Schuylerville, and the surrender of General 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 45 

John Burgoyne October 17, 1777, turned doubt and indecision into faith 
and action, and internal hostility and bitterness into friendship and unity. 

The Provincial Congress at New York issued military warrants June 
28, 177.") to Rufus Herrick, Captain; Charles Graham, first lieutenant; 
Jesse Thompson, second lieutenant; all of Northeast Precinct. 

" At a meeting of the several companies in the North East Precinct 
agreeable to the resolves of the Continental Congress (the Continental Con- 
gress met in Philadelphia. — I. H.) the following gentlemen were chosen 
officers in their respective companies : 

First Company — Isaac Smith, Captain ; Jacob Weaver, First Lieuten- 
ant ; Silas Husted, Second Lieutenant; Michael Row, Jun., Ensign. 

Second Company — Archibald Johnson, Captain ; Abraham Hartwell, 
First Lieutenant; John Seton, Second Lieutenant; Gilbert Clapp, Ensign. 

Third Company — John Collins, Captain ; James Wilson, First Lieuten 
ant: Zachariah Phillips, Second Lieutenant; Ensign. 

Fourth Company — Israel Thompson, Captain; Stephen Edgett, First 
Lieutenant; John Row, Second Lieut ?nant; Jehiel Mead, Ensign. 

This certifies that the above gentlemen were elected agreeable to the 
above mentioned resolves. Morris Graham, Hugh Rea, William Stewart, 
Augustine Graham, David Wilson, Hugh Orr, George Morehouse, members 
of the committee appointed to attend the election August 26, 177."). " 

These companies in connection with five other companies from Rhine- 
beck Precinct, formed a regiment officered as follows : Petrus Ten Broeck, 
Colonel; Morris Graham, Lieut. Col. ; Simon Westfall, 1st Major; Jonathan 
Landon, 2d Major; William Stewart, Adjutant ; HendrickVanHovenbergh, 
Quartermaster. Their commissions were issued October 17, 1775. 

At this time the First Regiment of "minute men" was raised of which 
John Van Ness was Colonel. He died before March 28, 177(5, when Lieut. 
Col. Cornelius Humphrey of the same regiment became Colonel ; Robert G. 
Livingston, 1st Major; James Reed, 2d Major; Reuben Hopkins, Adjutant; 
Joseph Ketchum, Jr., Quartermaster. There were eight companies in 
the regiment. Two from Rhinebask, 0113 from Fishkill, two from Char- 
lotte Precinct, one from North East, and two from Amenia. 

First Charlotte Company — Smi th Sutherland, Capt. , Zaclrrias Ma :shall, 
1st Lieut. ; Uriah Sill, 2d Lieut. ; Stephen Haight, Ensign. 

Second Charlotte Company — Melancthon Smith, Captain ; Isaac Bloom, 
1st Lieut. ; William Mead, 2d Lieut. ; William Tremper, Ensign. This 
Company was commissioned Feb. 22, 1776. 

North East Company — Hugh Rea, Captain; Daniel Wilson, 1st Lieut. ; 
Nathaniel Mead, 2d Lieut. ; Phineas Rice, Ensign. 

First Amenia Company — Increase Child, Captain; John Loyd 1st 
Lieut. ; William Blunt, 2d Lieut. ; Josiah Morse, Ensign. 

Second Amenia Company — Roswell Kinne, Captain ; Judah Burton. 1st 



46 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Lieut. ; Ebenezer Carter, 2d Lieut. ; Andrew Shaw, Ensign. This Company 
was commissioned Nov. 3, 1775. Other companies commissioned Oct. 
19, 1775, except Captain Smith above. 

In 1775 four Continental regiments were raised in the state of New 
York, and thus designated, First New York ; Second Albany ; Third Ulster ; 
Fourth Dutchess. The regiment from Dutchess had the following field and 
company officers at its organization, June 30, 1775: James Holmes, Col. 
(from Westchester Co. ); Philip Courtlandt, Lieut. Col.; Barnabas Tuthill, 
Major; Benjamin Chapman, Quartermaster. Companies — Henry B. Liv- 
ingston, Captain ; Jacob Thomas, first Lieut. ; Roswell Wilcox, second 
Lieut.. — Jonathan Piatt, Captain; David Daw, first Lieut. ; Manning Bull, 
second Lieut. — Rufus Herrick, Captain; Charles Graham, first Lieut : Jesse 
Thompson, second Lieut. — Daniel Mills, Captain; Elijah Hunter.first Lieut. ; 
John Bailey, second Lieut. — Ambrose Horton, Captain; David Palmer, 
first Lieut. ; Saml. Treadwell Pell, second Lieut. — Nathaniel Woodward, 
Captain ; Abraham Ricker, first Lieut.. Morris Hazzard, second Lieut. — 
John R. Livingston, Captain ; Leonard Ten Broeck, first Lieut. ; Andries 
Hermance, second Lieut. — Henry G. Livingston, Captain; Samuel Van 
Vechten, first Lieut. ; William Matthewman, second Lieut. — Jacobus Wyn- 
koop, Captain ; Anthony Welch, first Lieut. ; Thomas LeRo}-, second Lieut. 
— Joseph Benedict, Jun. , Captain; William Wilcox, second Lieut.; Eben- 
ezer Haviland, Surgeon ; Isaac Smith, Surgeon's mate. 

At the same time a regiment was being raised in "Charlotte Precinct, " 
which adjoined North East Precinct on the south, and is of historical 
interest to North Eastern Dutchess. The officers of this regiment were 
David Sutherland, Col.; Roswell Hopkins, Lieut Col. ; Simeon Cook, 1st 
Major; Richard de Cantelon, 2d Major; Joseph Carpenter, Adjutant; 
Daniel Shephered, Quartermaster. No record of the Surgeon at this time, 
but January 2, 1777, Matthias Burnet Miller was appointed surgeon by 
the Provincial Congress, the regiment being then in actual service. There 
were thirteen companies in the regiment officered respectively as follows: 

1st — William Barker, Capt. ; Job Mead, 1st Lieut.: Noah Hopkins, 
2d Lieut. ; Abner Gillet, Ensign. 

2d — Brinton Paine, Capt.; 1st Lieut., Samuel Waters; 2d Lieut., 
Ichabod Holmes; William Brush, Ensign. 

3d — Joshua Lasell, Captain ; Colbe Chamberlain, 1st Lieut. ; David 
Doty, 2d Lieut. ; Elisha Barlow, Ensign. 

4th — Robert Freeman, Captain: Elijah Smith, 1st Lieut.; Ezra 
St. John, 2d Lieut. ; Noah Wheeler, Ensign. 

5th — Henry Humphrey, Captain; Smith Sutherland, 1st Lieut. ; Silas 
German, 2d Lieut. ; George Crankheit, Ensign. 

6th — Isaac Bloom, Captain; John Gaseley, Jr., 1st Lieut. : John 
Williams, 2d Lieut. ; David Jervis, Ensign. 

[Note.— The companies are not numbered or lettered in the manuscript.] 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



17 



7th — Benjamin De Lavergne, Captain; David Handy. 1st Lieut. ; 
William Woodworth, 2d Lieut. : Joseph Harris, Ensign. 

sth — Jacob Tobias, Captain; Israel Piatt, 1st Lieut.; Caleb Haight, 
2d Lieut. : Gilbert Warden, Ensign. 

9th — Ebenezer Husted, Captain; Jonathan Mead. 1st Lieut.; James 
Talmage, 2d Lieut. ; Stephen Adset, Ensign. 

10th — Roger Sutherland, Captain; Josiah Gale, 1st Lieut.; Thomas 
Jenks. '2d Lieut. ; Joel Horskins, (Haskins) Ensign. 

11th — William Gay, Captain; Joseph Hagaman, 1st Lieut.; Francis 
LeRoy, 2d Lieut. ; Paul VanAnden, Ensign. 




W&i&M^>Jt< 



James Younq House. Later Stewart House. Built About 1770. 
Taken June, 1896. (See Lineage.) 

12th — Isaac Conklin, Captain; Peter Shultz, 1st Lieut. ; Josiah Barton, 
2d Lieut. ; Ebenezer Mott, Ensign. 

13th — Peter Stoutenburgh, Captain ; Elijah Herrick, 1st Lieut. ; Hugh 
Wilde. 2d Lieut. ; Joseph Hambleton, Ensign. 

Commissions issued, October 17, 177o. 

During the two years following 1775, many changes took place in the 
officers of the regiments, and in their companies. There were new levies, 
and new regiments raised for defense at home and for many other pur- 
poses, and all in the war. There were resignations and transfers of 
officers, caused by the new and changed arrangements. These changes 
and the imperfect returns of the officers makes confusion in the war 
records, as to harmony of time and place in the changes of regimental and 
company officers, thus perfection is impossible in detail. 



48 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

In 1775, Peter Ten Brooeck was Colonel, in which Morris Graham was 
Lieut. Colonel, and at the same time Roswell Hopkins was Lieut. Colonel 
in Col. David Sutherland's regiment. Col. Graham's regiment, in Gen. 
George Clinton's Brigade, was in active service from April 2, to Aug. 3, 
1777, according to the war papers, with the following officers: Morris Gra- 
ham, Col. ; Roswell Hopkins, Lieut. Col. ; Peter Fell, Major ; Augustine 
Graham, Adjutant; John Else, Quartermaster. The captains in the regi 
ment at the same time were Colby Chamberlain, Andrew Hermance, 

John Rouse, Elijah Herrick, Sutherland. The lieutenants were 

Gillet, John Hermans, Andries Hermance, Haight, 

Engalls, Philip Bown, Zophas Wicks. 

This was nearly two years after the respective regiments were raised, 
in which Graham and Hopkins were Lieut. Colonels. This was a special 
regiment for "actual service," formed by detachments from other regi- 
ments and lasted only a year, when Graham and Hopkins returned to their 
respective regiments. March 20, 1778, changes were made in David Suth- 
erland's regiment. Sutherland had resigned and Roswell Hopkins was 
chosen Colonel; William Barker, Lieut. Col., vice Hopkins, promoted; 
Ebenezer Husted, Jr. , Major. ' 'Simeon Cook and Robert Freeman, the 
former Majors having resigned." (Cantelon, the first 2d Major had re- 
signed Feb. 20, 1776, and Captain Freeman had taken his place.) Changes 
had also taken place in the companies. Thomas Jenks was 1st Lieut, in 
Captain Roger Sutherland's company, Joel Haskins 2d Lieut, in the same 
company. Silas Germond was 1st Lieut., Jonas Parks, 2d Lieut., Eli- 
jah Smith, Captain ; Noah Wheeler, 1st Lieut.; Isaac Darrow, 2d Lieut. — 
Colby Chamberlain, Captain; John Boyd, 1st Lieut. ; William Chamberlain, 
2d Lieut. — Job Mead, Captain; Noah Hopkins, 1st Lieut.; Abner Gillet, 
2d Lieut. — Jonathan Weller, Captain ; Silas Belding, 1st Lieut.; Silas An- 
son, 2d Lieut. — Samuel Waters, Captain; John McNeil, 1st Lieut. ; Edmund 
Per Lee, 2d Lieut. — James Talmage, Captain; John Landon, 1st Lieut.; 
Stephen Adsit, 2d Lieut. — Caleb Haight, Captain; Ben j'n Haight, 1st Lieut. ; 
Edwin Thorne, 2d Lieut. 

June 25, 1778 (the same year as above) the changes in the companies 
were Noah Wheeler, Captain, vice Elijah Smith, resigned; Isaac Darrow, 
1st Lieut. ; Solomon Wheeler, 2d Lieut. — David Truesdale, Ensign, and the 
same rank to Rowland Gifford, Gilbert Worden, Justus Wilson, Elijah 
Parks, Reuben Doty, James Mott, William Woolsey, George Cortright in 
their respective companies. Daniel Shepherd, who was the first Quarter- 
master, was Adjutant, and Samuel Herrick, Quartermaster. February 
18, 1779, Brinton Payne was 2d Major. 

March 6. 1779, Benjamin Haight was Captain, vice Caleb Haight, re- 
signed; Gilbert Worden, 1st Lieut,, vice Haight, promoted; Daniel Golding, 
2d Lieut. , vice Edward Thorne, resigned ; William Furman, Ensign, vice 
Worden, promoted. 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 49 

April 22, 1 770, changes took place. Edmund Per Lee was 1st Lieut. ; 
Justus Wilson, 2d Lieut. ; Rufus Herrick, Jr., Ensign. 

The regiment was in active service from Oct. 10 to Nov. 22, 1 379, and 
the following field and staff officers are in service: Roswell Hopkins, Col. ; 
Jacob Griffin, Lieut Col. ; Brinton Paine,* Ezra Paine, Quartermaster, Ed- 
mund Per Lee, Paymaster; Paul Johnson, Serg't Major; Jacob Bockee, 
Quartermaster Serg't ; Roswell Hopkins, Jr. , Surgeon, and his additional 

Captains were Brinkerhoof, John Van Benschoten, Aza (Asa) Bar- 

num, George Lane. 

Oct. 21, 1779, the following changes in the companies are reported: 
Daniel Shepherd, Captain, vice Job Mead, resigned: James Barnard, 2d 
Lieut. ; Paul Johnson, Ensign; Rufus Herrick, Jr., 2d Lieut. ; Ezra Paine. 
Ensign; Solomon Armstrong, Ensign. 

Sept. 29, 1780, are the following changes: Stephen Adsit, 1st Lieut., 
vice John Langdon, "removed to Connecticut;" Abner Purdy, 2d Lieut.; 
Asa Allen, Ensign, vice Woolsey, "moved out of beat;" Joel Haskins, vice 
Jenks, "moved off:" Joseph Duel, 2d Lieut. ; Noah Gale, Ensign, vice Gif- 
ford, "moved out of beat;" Jacob Bockee, Ensign, vice Ezra Paine, 
••moved out;" Elijah Parks, 1st Lieut,, vice Hopkins, resigned and removed ; 
Bezaliel Rudd, Quartermaster ; Samuel Herrick, Adjutant. 

June 29, 1781, is the date of the last change reported. Bezaliel Rudd 
to be 1st Lieut, of Captain Daniel Shepherd's company, vice Elijah Parks, 
moved out ; Paul Johnson, 2d Lieut. , vice James Barnard, moved out : Rob- 
ert Hebard, Ensign ; Abner Gillet, Quartermaster, vice Rudd. 

In a roster of state troops in the Archives of the State of New York, 
Vol. I — from which these notes are taken— only seven companies are re- 
ported as belonging to the regiment of Col. Roswell Hopkins. 

The roster seems to have been made from the war service from 177* 
to 1782. Samuel Waters, 1st Lieut, in Captain Brinton Paine's company, 
and James Talmage, 2d Lieut,, in Captain Ebenezer Husted's company, 
are the only two officers of the original thirteen companies that appear in 
the published roster. The original regiment was depleted by desertions, 
resignations, removals and transfers to other regiments. The roster of the 
companies is herewith published, compiled from the Military Archives, 
Vol. I. Where no rank is given they are privates. 

*Brinton Paine was Lieut. Col in Col. Lewis DuBois' Reg't. 



50 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 



COL, HOPKINS' Companies-Seven of them 

WATERS. 



Adsit, George, Corpl. 
Adsit, Silas, Sergt. 
Adsit, Stephen, Lieut. 
Allen, Asa, Sergt. 
Brown, Noah, Jr. 
Burgh, Jonathan 
Earl, Ephraim 
Finch, Amos 
Fisher, Daniel 
Ford, James, Fifer 
Gardner, David 
Garrett, Benjamin 
Gillet, Charles 
Haight, Samuel 
Haight, Samuel, Jr. 
Herrick, John 
Holmes, James 
Holp, John, Corpl. 
Husted, Peter 
Joslin, Anthony 
Lamfier, John 
Lason, Joseph 
MeGuire, Hugh 
Marshall, William 



Bates, Hickly, Sergt 
Bouker, Stephen 
Brewer, William, Corpl. 
Canniff, Levi 
Concklin, John 
Cook, John 
Cornwall, Clement 
Crompton, John 
Cronck, Abraham 
Cushman, William 
Dates, Cornelius 
DeGraff, Moses, Corpl. 
DeWitt, John 
Dubois, Christian, Lieut. 
Dubois, Jacob 
Griffen, Joseph 



Mead, Isaiah, Sergt. 
Newcomb, Thomas 
Orchard, John 
brim, Robert 
Plamate, Benoni 
Purdy, Josiah 
Reynolds, Abijah 
Reynolds, Caleb 
Reynolds, Joel 
Reynolds, Shubal 
Bobbins, Evans 
Scott, John 
Smith, James 
Smith, Joseph 
Smith, Philip 
Thomas, Beriali, Corpl. 
Thomas, John 
Tobias, John 
Vermilier, Isaac 
Waters, Isaac 
Wilcox, Aaron 
Wilson, Amos, Sergt. 
Winslow Joseph 
Worth, Richard. 

BENSCnOTEN. 

Meuerna, John, 

Middledaugh, Bert, Drummer 

Montfort, Peter 

Nelson, Paul 

Benfield, Willam 

Petit, David 

Roe, Benjamin, Corpl. 

Rosecrans, Thomas, Corpl. 

Sleight, Abraham, Sergt. 

Southard, James 

Stevens, John 

Terpenning, John 

Tunis, Peter 

Turner, Alexander 

VanBomell, Peter 

Vandewater, Joseph 



THE RKVOLl'TIONARY WAR. 



51 



Griff en, Peter 

Haborn, John 

Hogland, Abraham, Lieut, 

Horton, Peter, Sergt. 

Huff, John 

Huffman, Daniel 

Jewell, Harman 

Leary. John 

Losee, John 

Markell, Henry 

Hasten, Ezekiel 



Vandewater, Henian 
Vandewater, Jacobus 
VanKteek, Baltus 
VanKuren, Matthew 
VanVoorhees. Abraham 
VanVoorhees, Daniel 
Vermilies, David 
Wiltsie, Cornelius Sergt. 
Winslow, Samuel 
Wood, Jothan 
Wood, Solomon. 



Adams, John 
Armstrong, Benjamin 
Austin, Robert 
Badovv, Jacob 
Barker, Nathan 
Bayley, Samuel 
Berry, John, Lieut. 
Carl, John 
Chace, Richard 
Curry, Charles 
Dishy, Andrew- 
Field. Nathan 
Finch, John 
Finch, Sylvanus 
Fuller David 
Gifford, Elisha 
Gilford, James 
Greek, James 
Gregory, Joshua 
Gregory, Boswell 
Hadley, William 
Harper, Godfrey 
Hickam, Solomon 
How, John, Sergt. 
How, Thomas 
Lasuse, Samuel 
Lockwood, Ebenezer 



Lurine, James, Corpl. 
HcCabe, Benjamin 
Helangclon, Benjamin 
Hoe, Abraham 
Honey, Absalom 
Morrow, Justis, Sergt. 
Phenton, Amos 
Rhodes, Richard 
Robinson, Ebenezer 
Roe, William 
Russel, James, Corpl. 
Small, Isaac 

Smith, Abraham, Drummer 
Smith, Asa 
Smith, James 
Start, Nathan 
Stockum, John 
Stockum, William 
Sturtevant, David 
Turner, Stephen 
Veal, (Vail) George 
Ward, Israel 
White, Nathaniel 
Wickson, Ebenezer 
Williams, Thomas 
Workman, Phineas, Corpl. 
Yarns, Nathan. 




o 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



53 



Abbett, David 
Canfield, Amos 
Daggett, Mayhew. Sergt 
Demmon, Samuel 
Dowling, Andrew 
Ferris, Seth, Corpl. 
Ferris, William, Sergt. 
Finch, Comfort 
Fish, Moses, Corpl. 
Gage, Samuel 
Gordon, Cornelius 
Green, Tobias 
Germond, Peter 
Horskins, Joel, Lieut. 
Horton, Peleg, Sergt. 
Horton, Samuel 
Humphrey, William 
Jones, Ransom 
Montgomery, Elijah 



TALMADCJE. 

Palmer, Benjamin 
Palmer, John 
Parks, Jonas, Lieut. 
Parks, Samuel 
Purdy, Stephen 
Rogers, Reuben 
Seaman, John 
Sherman, William 
Smith, Israel 
Sutherland, Joseph 
Sutherland, Solomon 
Tobias, John 
Waters, Benjamin 
Waters, Cornelius 
Wheeler, Ezra 
Wickham, Benjamin 
Wickham, Daniel 
Wilkinson, John 
Wilkinson, Thomas, 
Winans. Silas. 



Corpl. 



Corpl. 



WHEELER. 



Bugbee, John 
Butler, Stephen 
Castle, Lemuel 
Carter, John 
Cashen, William 
Church, Medad 
Cook, James 
Cook, Job 

Dellino, Thomas, Fifer 
Denny, Charles 
Denny, Richard 
Finch. Phillip 
Frederick, Charles 
Garret, Isaac 
Gillet, Abner, Lieut. 
Gillet, Samuel, Corpl. 
Gooderick Elijah 
Gould, Elijah 
Gray, Jeduthan, Sergt. 
Holmes, Nathan 
Howell, William 
Howley, Henry " 
Hubbard, Ezekiel 



Hubbard, Reuben, Corpl. 
Knickerbacker, John 
Knickerbacker, Lawrence 
Merchant, Abel 
Merrit, Ebenezer 
Newell, Joseph 
Paine, Ichabod, Jr., Sergt. 
Paine, Samuel 
Panesknut, John 
Pardy, Thomas 
Parks, Elijah, Lieut. 
Pennoyer, Amos, Sergt. 
Perry, Obediah 
Pike, Jarvis 

Pike, Ezra 
Reed, Samuel 
Shavileer, William 
Spicer, Jeremiah 
Winegar, Henry 
Welles, William, Corpl. 

Whitcomb, 

Williams, Warren. 



m 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 



BRINKERHOFF 



Baker, Jesse Corpl. 
Bogardus, Peter, 
Brewer, Samuel 
Bugbee, Samuel 
Canfield, Titus 
Dolleway, Jeremiah 
Ferrol, Daniel 
Gildersleeve, Joseph 
Green, Ezekiel 
Green, Joseph 
Hogins, Edward 
Howard, Joseph 
Hutchins, Benjamin 
Jero, Daniel 
Johnson, Robert 
Johnson Josiah 
Ladue, William, Corpl. 
Laine, Joseph 
Lane, William 
Lequier, Abraham 
McCuteheon Robert 
Miles, Noah 
Myers, Abraham 
Osborne, Peter 
Otterson, Andrew 
Paine, Thomas 
Parker, Joseph 



Parker, Nathaniel 

Philips, David 

Powell, Abraham 

Pullock, William 

Riall, Peter 

Rogers, Piatt 

Scouten, John 

Scouten, Simon 

Scutt, Abraham 

Scutt, Joseph 

Smith, John 

Smith, Joshua 

Smith, Martin 

Sodan, John 

Southard, John 

Spence, John 

Sutherland, Richard 

Swartwout, William, Lieut. 

Townsend, James, 

VanVleckren, 

VanVoorhees, Henry 

VanVoorhees, Jeromus, Sergt. 

VanWyck, John 

Wilbert, John 

Wiltsie, William 

Wood, Jesse 

Young, John. 



BARNL'M 



Baker, Judah 

Barbci, Reuben 

Barber, Thomas 

Burling, Gilead 

Cable, Piatt 

Carl, John, Corpl. 

Clapman (Chapman?), Samuel 

Clapman (Chapman '?), Thomas 

Crosby, Lemuel 

Crosby, Samuel 

Dixon, Thaddeus 

Dolph, John 

Gage, Mark, Sergt. 

Gay, Daniel 

Gilcrease, Thomas 

Gorham, James 

Hall, John Sergt. 



Hawkins, Samuel 
Henman, Zachariah 
Hopkins, Solomon Lieut. 
Kilby, Jeremiah 
Killee, John Corpl. 
Lockwood, Daniel 
Luddington, Elisha 
Marshall, Josiah 
Mott, William 
Olmstead Ebenezer 
Parish, Azariah 
Perry, John 
Perry, Samuel 
Rider, Christopher 
Sears, Stephen 
Smith, Alpheus, Drummer 
Young, Elkanah, 



COL. MORRIS GRAHAM'S Companies. 

It has been noticed that Morris Graham was Lieut. Col. in Col. Peter 
TenBiwck's "First Regiment" of Dutchess County Militia. He and 
Roswell Hopkins, of Amenia, were early in the war. Under a resolution 
of the Continental Congress as early as July 16th, 1776, two regiments 
were " to go into immediate service" from Dutchess County. The " First 
Regiment" had officers : Jacobus Svvartwout, Colonel; Reuben Ferris, 
Lieut. Col. ; Israel Thompson, Major. The Second Regiment had officers: 
Morris Graham, Colonel ; Roswell Hopkins, Lieut. Col. ; William Barker, 
Major. His connection with Lieut. Col. Roswell Hopkins, probably under 
this organization, during the spring and summer of 1777 has been already 
noticed. No list of the line officers under this arrangement has been 
found. It was a temporary organization, lasting about a year, after 
which Graham returned to his original regiment as Lieut. Colonel. 
Changes were made in this regiment, March 18, 1778. Col. TenBro?ck 
meantime had been promoted to a Brigadier General, and had deceased. 
At the above date Morris Graham was made Colonel: Jonathan Landon, 
Lieut, Col.: William Radcliff, 1st Major; David VanNess, 2d Major; 
George Moorhouse, Quartermaster. In the line officers, James Wilson, 
Captain; Andrew llermance, Captain; Cornelius Elmendorph, 1st Lieut. ; 
Abraham Hartwell, Captain; John Seaton, 1st Lieut.; David Hamlin. 
2d Lieut. ; John Row, Captain; Silas Husted, Captain; Augustine Graham, 
1st Lieut, (he had been Adjt. in the regiment formed from detachments). 
Some changes were made June 22d and 25th, and November oth following. 
June 29, 1781, George Head was made Captain, vice John Row, 
"removed;" Smith Simmons, 1st Lieut.; David Parks, Ensign; Doct. 
William Adams was a surgeon in this regiment. 

The next year after the changes in officers in 1778, the regiment is 
reported as being "in the service of the United States" from Oct. 10th to 
Nov. 23, 1779, having the following officers: Morris Graham, Colonel; 
Benjamin Birdsall, Lieut, Col.: Andrew Hill, Major; Theodoras Bailey* 
Adjutant; Eden Hunt, Quartermaster; Doctor William Adams, Surgeon; 
William Covenhoven, Sergt. Major; James Isdaway, Drum Major. The 
Captains were Israel Vail, James Wilson, Silas Husted, Lemuel Conklin, 
John Wilson, William Pearce. 

In 1780. lie was Colonel of the " 3d New York Regiment," with the 
following officers : Henry Livingston, Lieut. Col. ; Melancthon Woolsey, 
Major; Jellis Fonda, Adjutant from Aug. 1st to Oct. 30th; John Ostrander 
Adjutant from Sept. 12th to Oct. 30th; David Hunt. Quartermaster; Jas. 
Magee, Paymaster; Peter Osborne, Surgeon's mate. Captains were James 



56 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 



Magee, John Jacob Lansing, Elijah Bostwick, Daniel Williams, Andrew 
Hermance, Christopher Miller, Adiel Sherwood. The Lieutenants in Capt. 
Sherwood's Company were Ezekiel Roberts, Cornelius Baldwin, John 
Bolton. 

In the roster of State troops, twelve companies appear to have been, 
at different times, in his regiments. The names of the men following are 
compiled from the published roster of State troops in the Revolution. 
Where there is no rank. given they are privates: 



CAPT. DANIEL WILLIAMS* 



Barkman, John 
Bebee, Constant, Sergt. 
Chard, Beers 
Clow, John Gothel 
Cloyd, Daniel 
Cole, Moses. Sergt. 
Cook, Zebulon 
DeBois, Jacob 
Dickerson, Judathan 
Dodge, Daniel 
Dyckman, Michael 
Gibson, David 
Gibson, David, Corpl. 
Hadley, Joseph, Sergt. 
Hall, William. 
Hodge, Daniel 
Ho 1 lister. Smith 
Jones, William 



Leamans, Archibald 
McDonald. Edward, 
Mead, Eli 
Miller, Henry 
Odel, John, Lieut. 
Ostrander, William 
Palmer, John 
Pike, Jarvis 
Robinson, Ezra 
Romer, Aaron 
Rosman, Henry 
Sanders, Wait 
Taylor, James 
Victory, John 
Whitcomb, Ezra 
Whitcomb, John 
Wilson, Jesse, Sergt 
Wilthouse, John. 



Corpl. 



Corpl. 



*Captain Daniel Williams was prisoner from Dec 25, 1778, to March 8, 1780. His com- 
pany had been detached from Col, Graham's and sent to an Albany County regiment. 

(Col. Graham.) 




THE KKVol.lTloXAUY WAR. 



(APT. ELIJAH noSTWK'K. 



Adams, Noah 
Andrews, Isaac- 
Bailey, David Drumme 
Briggs, Stephen 
Brown, John Corpl. 
Brown, Samuel Sergt. 
Cady, David 
Colender, John Lieut. 
Chapman. Amos Corpl. 
Chapman, Herman 
Clous, John Gotlip 
Clute, John 
Cole, Henry 
Cotrel, Abis 
Curtis, Joseph 
Darling, Samuel 
Darrow, Daniel 
Davis, John 
Dayton, John 
Earle Joseph 
Foster, John 
Funk, Christopher 
Gardner, Isaac 
Graat, John 



Graves, Noadiah 

Graves, Timothy 

Griswold, Miles 

Hall, Christopher 

Harris, Eliphalet 

Holmes, Jedediali 

Hunt, David Lieut. 

Hutchinson, Benjamin Corp' 

Johnson, Elijah 

Johnson, Shubal 

Lee', William 

Luce, Israel 

Mudge, Ebenezer 

Norton, Stephen 

Pratt, Robert 

Skinner, Solomon 

Treat, Woodbridge Fifer 

Tripp, Anthony 

Wait, George 

Waters, David 

Williams, William 

Woolcut, Justus 

Young, William 



CAPT. ISRAEL VAIL. 



Andross, John Drummer 
Andres.s Joseph Corpl 
Bentley, Samuel 
Bentley, Tillinghast Lieut. 
Berry, Nicholas 
Bogardus, Matthew Fifer 
Brady, John 
Brown, Samuel 
^. Burnet, John u 
Champlin, Clark 
Champlin, Thomas Seig't 
Corn well, Lewis 
Cornwell, Samuel 
Crook, William 
Cummins, Gallar 
Cummins, Peter 
Darling, Peter 



Kelley, John 
Losee, John 
Lyon, James 
McCready, James 
Mott, Zebulon 
Morris, Robert 
Oakley, John 
Phillo, Samuel 
Ralph, Georgo 
Rines, Andres 
Rogers, John 
Ruger, Gabriel 
Simpson, Peter, Jr. 
Skarmahorn, Cornelius 
Smith, Ezekiel 
Smith, Henry 
Snedeker, Isaac 



58 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 



Denney, Bargo Corp 1 ! 

Dooley, Philip 

Doty. Vail 

Downing, Cornelius 

Drake, John 

Furguson, Uriah 

Fowler, John 

Frost, Thomas 

Gifford, William 

Hall, Asa 

Hall, Jesse 

Harris, Peter 

Hosher, Thomas 

Hix, William 

Howard, Joseph 

Hulon, John, Jr. 

Jenkins, Simeon 

Jermond, William Serg'l 

Jones, Lewis 



Spencer, Matthew Corp'l 
Spencer, Rufus 
Stafford, Amos 
Sweet, Benjamin, 
Sweet, Timothy Corp'l 
Thomas, John 
Toms, Benjamin 
Tredwell, Edward Lieut. 
VanDusen, Caspar 
VanDusen, Abraham 
VanLarakie, Benjamin 
Weight, George 
Wiltser, Cornwell Serg't 
Wolf, William 
Wood. Bartholomew 
Worden, David 
Wright, Christopher 
Wright, Joseph 



CAPT. JAMES MAGEE. 



Alger, Amil 

Alger, Amil Serg't 

Atkins, William 

Bloodgood, William Lieut. 

Clary, Luke 

Cooper, John 

Cooper, Obediah 

Cully, David 

Curtis, Jol'1 

Fabush, Jesse 

Flack, James 

Gates, Simon 

Green Silas 

Hagedorn, Samuel 

Hagerman, William 

Harrington, Abraham 

Harrington, John 

Harson, George Lieut. 

Heath, Stephen 

Hinkley, Gei'sham 

Hugan, John Serg't 

Hurmance, Joseph H. Lieut. 

Hurmance, Jacob I. Lieut. 



McCoy, James 

McPlum, John Corp'l 

Moloy, Thomas 

Morrison, Edward, Serg't Major 

Mosher, Nicholas Serg't 

Mott, Robert 

Mount, Samuel 

Mynderse, Harman 

Mynderse, Abraham 

Proper, Peter 

Richmond, Abijah 

Salisbury, Joseph 

Salisbury, Lucas 

Shields, James 

So! lake, John 

Springsteen, Jeremy Drummer 

Sullivan, David Corp'l. 

TalbusL, Jesse -, 

Thursdall, William Q'r. M'r., Serg't 

Valentine, Richard 

VanTassel, Abraham 

VanValkenburgh, John 

Wads worth, John 



THE REYOEETIONARY WAR. 



59. 



Hurrington, Zachariah 
Huyck, Nich's 
Jonks. Jacob 
Lewis, Christopher 
Lewis, Reuben 
Lewis, Stephen 
Little, Stephen 
Lyon, Amaziah 



Wauson, James 
Wauson, John 
Ward, Christopher 
Watson, James 
Watson, John 
Wilkie, Augustus Serg't 
Williamson, James 
Winters, John Corp'J 



CAPT. WILLIAM PEARCE. 



Agard, Joseph 
Allen, George 
Alien, George, Jr. 
Atkins, Isaac 
Baker, William 
Burley, Ebenezer 
Burley, Ebenezer, Jr. 
Calkins, Eleazer 
Campbell, Robinson 
Camson, Abraham 
Davis, Alverson 
DeWitt, Benjamin 
DeWitt, Cornelius 
Draper, Joseph Corp'i 
Draper, Reuben 
Eagle John 

Elliott, Benjamin Lieut. 
Evans, Thomas Corp'i 
Force, Henry 
Gilford, Amaziah 
Gordon, James 
Hall, Ezekiel 
Hatch, Joseph 
Howard, Daniel 
Howard, Joseph 
Hunt, Jotham 
Jewell, John Fifer 
Jones, Ephraim 



Keeler, Hezekiah 
Lindsay, James 
Miles, Benajah 
Moon, Matthew 
Morehouse, David Serg't 
Morehouse, Elijah 
Otis, James 
Palmer, Solomon 
Parks, Jacob 
Pendal, John Serg't 
Pennoyer, Wright Serg't 
Richardson, Isaac 
Richardson, William 
Robinson Lewis 
Salmon, Ashell 
Soule, Elijah 
Stark, Aaron Fifer 
Stark, John 
Storam, Ebenezer 
Tabor, Nathaniel 
Thompson, John 
Thornton, Jeremiah 
Thornton, Thomas 
Twitchell, Benoni 
West, Aaron 
Whale, Timothy 
Willcox, Thomas 



-60 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 



CAPT. SILAS HL'STED. 



Alendorph, Christopher 
* Burnet, John K 
Burger, Martin 
Codwise, Christopher 
Cole, Simon Corp'l 
Cunningham, John 
Duel, Joseph 
Dumont. John 
Eden, John 

Elmendorph, Abraham 
Elmendorph, Cornelius Lieut 
Gray, Daniel 
Hauver, Christian 
Herdick, Peter 
Humphrey, Nicholas 
Jurey, John 
Keefer, Leonard 
Lewis, Anthony 
Lewis, Henry 
Lewis, Jacob 
Lewis, Joseph 
Mcintosh, Simon 
McKirney, Joseph 
Myers, Christian 
Myers, Hendrick 
Myers, Peter 
Pardner, Valentine 



Scott, Isaac 
Scott, John 
Scott, Simon 
Scott, William 
Seemon, Michael 
Shaver, John Fifer 
Shultis, John 
Sickner, Jacob 
Smith, Michael Serg't 
Smith, Philip 
Smith, Stephen 
Soper, Timothy 
Stickel, Nicholas 
Taylor, Henry 
Thorn, Ebenezer 
Titus, Philip 
VanAtten, Isaac 
VanAtten, Peter 
VanBenscoten, Herman 
VanBenscoten, Egenos 
Welch, Benjamin 
Welch, John 
Williams, Lemuel 
Winans. Isaac 
Young, Henry 
Young, James Corp'l 
Young, James Serg't 



Corp'l 



CAPT. JOHN JACOB LANSING. 



Antis, William 
Babcock, Benjamin 
Babcock, David 
Baker, Conrad Serg't 
Baker, Storm Sergt. 
Barber, William 
Barner, Joseph 
Barnes, James 
Bartholomew, Dewalt 
Bceker, Adam 
Becker, Storm 
Becker, William 
Beebe, Constant 
Campbell, William 



Lyons, Ameriah 
McCoy, John 
Mcintosh, Andrew 
Mcintosh, John 
Mayfield, John 
Miller' John 
Mindersick, Frederick 
Monier, John 
Morrell, William 
Mynderson, Frederick 
Mynheer, John 
Palmer, Amaziah Serj 
Parks, Timothy 
Peak, Garret 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



6H 



Canada, Henry 

Coats, Zebulon 

( iolman, John 

( Jonnoly, Jacob 

( 'raps, Peter 

Daniels, Jacob Serg't 

Decline, Leonard 

Dorn, John 

Fisk, William 

French, Joseph 

Frier, John 

Fryer, John F. 

Green, James 

Griffith, William 

Hagedorn, John 

Hagedorn, Samuel 

Havens, Thomas 

Hilton, Jonathan Corporal 

Hitzinger, Michael 

Hochtrasser, Jacob Lieut 

Hodgeson, Geo. Corp'l 

Jonck, Jacob 

Lawyer, Lambert 

Livingston, Robert H. 



Reynard, Williams 

Rider, William 

Robertson, William 

Rumney, John 

Rynard, William 

Salyea, Henry 

Saxton, Gersham 

Shell, Adam 

Slayer, Henry 

Smith, Nicholas 

Spitcer, Aaron 

Stansel, Nicholas Drummer 

Stubrach, Barent 

Tallman. Thomas Drummer 

Taylor,, James Corp'l 

Taylor, Joseph 

Van Aernum 

Van Tuyl, Corp'l 

VanValkenburgh, Gershom 
Virscher, Bastion H. 
Vredenburgh, Abraham 
Wallace, Benjamin Serg't 
Williams, David 
Wolf, Anthony 



CAPT. CHRISTOPHER MILLER. 



Andries, John 
Bout, Ephraim 
Bnrgarth. Lambert 
Burnes, Charles 
Burris, Charles 
Byvanck. John 
Chism, Peter 
Codney, William 
Cohone, Alexander Filer 
Conradt, Henry 
Darling, Ammarias 
Dicker, Francis 
Doty, Isaac 
Doty, Shadrick 
Doolittle, Timothy 
Evans, Joseph 
Forgus, Christian 
Gold, Elijah 



Miller, Jeremiah Lieut 
Mondorel, Matthew Corp'l 
Miller, Jeremiah Lieut 
Ostrander, Henry 
Ost rander, John Lieut 
Penfleld, Isaac Serg't 
Philip, David, Serg't 
Radly, Jacob Corp'l 
Radly, John 
Robins, Daniel 
Rogers,. Michael 
Rosman, Henry 
Rowland, John 
Rowley, Jabish Corp'l 
Rynard, John Sarg't 
Salisbury, Gideon 
Schoolcraft, Peter 
Scott, William 



63 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 



Graft, Philip 
Griswold, David 
Hoghtaling, John 
Hollobard, Jesse 
Hover, Phelix 
Hutt, John 
Irvine. Henry 
King, John 
Lemmes, Andrew 
Lemon, Archibald 
Lemon, John 
Livingston, Richard 
Lothrop, Ebenezer Corp'l 
Lucks, Abraham 
Lucks, Andrew- 
Lucks, Johannes 
Lull, Nathan 
Lummes, Andrew 
Mandeville, Matthew Corp'l 
Shaver, Adam 
Shoolcraft, Peter 



Shurts, John Serg't 
Shutts John 
Smalley, Reuben 
Snyder, William 
Speed, Henry 
Stader, Jost 
Steward, John 
Stopplebeen, Peter Serg't 
Strader, Jost 
Tail, Andrew 
Tignor, John 
Valkenburgh, Horoman 
VanBeura, George 
Vanburgh, George 
Van Valkenburgh, Jeremiah 
Wentworth, James 
White, William 
Wood, James 
Sg't Wooding, Reuben 
Woodward, Ephraim 



CAPT. JAMES WILSON.* CAPT. JOHN WILSON 



Adtendon, Asal 

Allen, William 

Aston, Jacob 

Beam, William 

Benschoton, James 

Belt, Caspar 

Bitcher (Pitcher), Adam 

Backer, Zachariah 

Boyce, James 

Bulges, Stephen 

Cammel, William 

Caner, Joseph 

Cembet, John 

Cever, Battis 

Clerk, Robin 

Cookingham, Frederick 

Covenhoven, William Serg't 

Cownover, Francis Corp'l 

Deal, William 



Livingston, Richard 
Lord, Henry 
McAlpin, John 
McCoy, Daniel 
Mashanunce, John 
Mower, Henrick 
Mower, William 
Near, Zacharias 
Okens, Edward 
Ostrum, Roliff 

Oxtrim Corp'l 

Parburgh, Henry 
Pawling, Cornelius 
Pawling, John 
Porter, Frederick 
Phelps, Abner 
Phelps, David 
Plough. Samuel 
Potts, David 



♦There were two Captain Wilsons, and no distinction made in the roster. 



g o 



KH "^ 



a' o 




64 



HISTORY OF riNE PLAINS. 



Dennis, Philip 

Ester, Benjamin 

Ester, Philip 

Evans. Shad'rk 

Frost, Enoo 

Fradenburgh, Abraham 

Halley, Newman 

Hamlin, Ephraim Corp'1 

Hamrid, Peter 

Hanycom, Don 

Han y com, John 

Hapman, John 

Hease, John Serg't 

Hermance, Andrew Lieut 

Hermance, Goosa Serg't 

Hopper, David 

Kipp, Jacob 

Kipp, Reseph A. 

Kipp, Reseph 

Lawrence, Clerk 

Leroy. Hendrick Corporal 



Link, William 

Proper, George 

Rowley, Weeks 

Seaton, William Lieut 

Sharp. John 

Smith, John 

Sup, Wilson 

YanDusen, Jessy 

VanVredenburgh, Benjamin Corp'L 

VanWagener, Gerret Serg't 

Vespter, John 

Wand, Joshua 

Westfall, Abraham Corp'l 

Westfall. Benjamin 

Wcstfall, Gilbert 

Wcstfall, Jacobus Serg't 

Wicks, John 

Williams, Benjamin 

Williams, Ebenezer 

Wilson, Robert Serg't 

Winchel, James 



CAPT. LEMUEL CONKLIN, 



Banker, Thomas 
Blanchcr, Richard 
Brewer, John 
Bussan, William 
Carman. Samuel 
Conlin, John Serg't 
Conroe, William 
Coon, Asa 
Demsey, Mark 
Deyoe, Peter 
Fitch, Yore 
Frier, Simeon 
Gray, John 

Green, Jeremiah Serg't 
( ! ri tHu, Jacob 
Hagerman, Nicholas 
Handy, Manasseh 
Hanson, Ort 
Huddleston, William 
Hunt, John 
Jackson, James 



Marquat, Jacob 
Matthews. Samuel Corp'l 
Maxfield, John Serg't 
Moutrot, John 
Odel, Joseph 
• Ort, Cornelius 
Owen, Thaddeus 
Palmer, Joseph 
Relay, Robert 
Rines. John Corp'l 
homer, Aaron 
1'omer, John 
Ryce. Peter 
Seyman, John 
Shourt, William 
Smith, George 
Smith, Obadiah 
Strahan, John 
Swartwout, John 
Thompkins, Joshua 
Valentine, Richard 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



85 



Jaycocks, Thomas 
Kipp, Benoni 
Latsel, William 
Lawson, Jacob 
Lawson, Simon Lieut 
Luckey, James 
McEvers, James 
Maltimore, James 
Malond, John 



YanGelder, Hendrick 
Vermelia, John 
Watson, Geffery 
Westervelt, Casparus 
Weaver, David 
Wicks. Jonah Lieut 
Wiltsie, John 
Yates, William 



(.•APT. ANDREW HERMANCE. (.'APT. JOHN HERMANCE 1 



Cameron, David 

Carolina, Joseph 

Codurse, Christopher 

Cook, James 

Cool, Peter 

Covenhoven, Francis 

Covenhoven, William Serg't 

Elsworth, John 

Fonda, Jellis Lieut 

Gilbert, John Serg't 

Hall, Benjamin Fifer 

Hall, Benjamin 

Hampaugh, Peter 

Harris, Noah 

Hermance, Andrew Lieut 

Hermance, Andrew P. Lieut 

Hermance, John Lieut 

Hickman, Michael 

Hopping, David 

Kemple, John 

Legget, Lue 

Lewis, Hendrick 

Lewis, Jacob 

Luyck, John 



Luyck, Joseph 

McKinney, Joseph 

Maffet, John Cor] VI 

Man, Solomon 

Marsh, Marchus 

Merrit, Ebenezer 

Morris, Ebenezer 

Pawling, Cornelius 

Price, David 

Prince, Kemple Serg't 

Roberts, John 

Shover, John 

Shufelts, John 

Shufelts, William 

Smith, Michael 

Smith, Peter 

Spannenburgh, Jacob 

Tinnegar, George 

VanBenschoten, Herman 

Vredenburgh, Peter 

Vredenburgh, William Serg't 

Waldron, Wm. 

Westfall, Abraham Corp'l 

Wynants, John 



; '\n distinction in the loste: 



66 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 



CAPT. ADIEL SHERWOOD. 



Baldwin, Cornelius Lieut 
Beckins, Elijah 
Bennet, Benjamin 
Bevier, Andries 
Blowers, Samuel 
Brodhead, John 
Buel, Cirus 
Carr, James 
Caswell, David 
Chambers, Cornelius 
Chitester, Nathan 
Codner, George 
Codner, Ishmael 
Coldwell, John Serg't 
Cole, Cornelius 
Cowden, John 
Cowin, William 
Cross, William 
Devius, Jacobus 
DeWitt, John, Jr. 
Fitch, Elijah 
Foster, John 
Freel, Peter 
Fuller, Benjamin 
Gifford, John 



GUI, William 

Graham, John 

Gunsolen, Samuel 

Guy, John 

Hammond, John 

Heath, Winslow 

Heathway, Jonathan Corp'l 

Hunter, Moses Drummer 

Hyne, Cornelius 

Knapp. Benjamin 

Lint, Sherwo< >d 

McCarty, Hugh 

McNult 

Melegan, Robert 
Morrison, Hugh 
Moss, Isaac 
Ray, Rasal Fifer 
Roosa, Dirk, Sr. 
Runnels, Jul m 
Sherer, Robert 
Steward, Solomon 
Upright, Jan Jurry 
VanTassel, Cornelius 
VanWyan, Henry 
Williams, Job 
Wing, Daniel 

MEN IN COL. GRAHAM'S REGIMENT NOT IN ANY COM P ANY. 



Adams, William Surgeon 

Allen, David 

Allen, James 

Anthony, Richard 

Archer, James 

Ausgood, Nathaniel 

Bailey, Theodoras Adjutant 

Benson, John 

Bevier, Benjamin 

Bevier, Cornelius 

Bevier, Johannes 

Bowne, Philip 

Brodhead, Henry 

Brown, Samuel 

Burnet, William *< 



Ingalls, Elihu 

Isdawy, James Dr'm Maj'r 

Jansen, Johannes 

Jansen, Thomas 

Jansen, Thomas, Jr. 

Livingston, Henry Lieut. Col. 

McPherson, Daniel 

McSweeney, Daniel 

Magee, James Paymaster 

Millerd, Nathaniel 

Millet, John 

Milligan, Robert 

Morrison, John 

Newkirk, Isaac 

Osborn, Peter Serg't Maj. 



THE KF-VOLUTIONAHY WAR. 



67 



Caldwell, John 

Cantine, Peter 

•Chamberlain, Colbe 

Covenhoven, Wm. , Serg't Maj. 

Dailey, Samuel 

Dupuy, Moses 

DeWitt, Andreas 

DeWitt, John 

DeWitt, William 

Drew, William Corp'l 

Duey, Samuel 

Dunham, Samuel 

Durgy, Leddias 

Earls, Daniel Serg't, 

Else, John Quartermaster 

Fonda, Jellis Adj't 

Gates, Samuel Serg't 

Gifford, Joseph 

Gillet, Abner Lieut. 

Graham, John Adj't 

Guy, Timothy 

Hanfield, David 

Hardenbergh, John G. 

Harris, William 

Hay, William 

Henderson, Alexander 

Herriek, Elijah 

Herron, Elliot 

High, William 

Hill, Andrew Major 

Hopkins, Robert 

Hornbeck, Jacob 

Hornbeck, Joel 

Humphrey, Emery 

Hunt, David Q'r Mst'r 

Hunt, Eden Q'r Mst'r 



Ostrander, John Adj't 

Ovet, Isaac 

Parks, Daniel 

Penal, Moses 

Phelps, Elijah 

Rice, Seth 

Roberts, Ezekiel 

Robinson, Charles 

Rosa, Abraham 

Rouse, John 

Saturly, Joseph 

Scott, John 

Seeley, Sylvanus 

Sharp, John 

Simpson, Robert 

Skinner, John 

Smith, Henry 

Smith, Prusia 

Smith, Solomon 

Sparks, Robert 

Stewart, Samuel Serg't 

Storms, Isaac 

Sutherland, Smith Capt 

Terwilliger, Tunis 

Thomas, Ephraim 

Truesdell, William Q'r Mst'r Sg't 

Turner, Jacob 

VanKeuren, Benjamin 

VanKeuren Philip 

VanNoe, Cornelius 

VanNoe, Peter 

VanSchaick, Roger 

Weeks, Zophar 

Wing, Benjamin 

Woolsey, Mel. Ld. Major 



68 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Roster of Col. Morris Graham's regiment, taken from Vol. 1, "Archives 
of the State of New York." By the reorganization of regiments in the 
State during the Revolution, the privates and officers were transferred to 
other regiments. Thus the same names appear in different regiments. 
The roster in the volume referred to is made from the returns, .which are 
very imperfect, in the Adjutant General's office at Albany. 

Morris Graham, Colonel. 

William Adams, Surgeon. 

Theodoras Bailey, Adjutant. 

Jellis Fonda, Adjutant. 

John Else, Quartermaster. 

John Graham, Adjutant. 

James Magee, Paymaster and also Captain of a Company. 

David Hunt, Quartermaster. 

Eden Hunt, Quartermaster. 

James Isdawy, Drum Major. 

The officers authorized to recruit for the "Continentals" in North 
East Precinct were Ruf us Herrick, Captain, Charles Graham, first Lieut., 
and Jesse Thompson, second Lieutenant, Their warrants were issued June 
28, 1775, by the Provincial Congress then sitting in New York. It dis- 
solved two days afterward — June 30th — as the British were about taking 
posssession of the city. Zephaniah Piatt, Gilbert Livingston and Melanc- 
thon Smith constituted the military committee for Dutchess County. This 
committee received the above warrants from the Provincial Congress. 

By order of the Provincial Congress in 1775, four regiments or bat- 
talions were raisel in the Province of New York, and in 1775 another was 
raised, making the fifth. The above with their companies— Herrick, Gra- 
ham and Thompson— were assigned to the Fourth Regiment, of which. 
June 30, 1775, James Holmes was Colonel, Philip Van Courtlandt Lieut. 
Colonel, Barnabas Tuthill Major, Benjamin Chapman Quartermaster, Eb- 
enezer Haviland Surgeon, and Isaac Smith, Surgeon's mate. This regiment 
was fourth in rank, according to a resolution of the Provincial Congress, 
which assigned the rank of each regiment. In the rank of field officers of 
these four regiments, the choice under the "New Arrangement," fell to 
Goes (written Goose) VanShaick Colonel, Philip VanCourtlandt Lieut, Col., 
and Peter Ganesvoort Major. Col. Holmes and Major Tuthill resigned 
soon after the organization of the regiment, not being satisfied with the 
" new arrangement." Col. Holmes joined the Tories. 

CHARLES GRAHAM. 

Charles Graham was a resident of North East Precinct, and in a list of 
thirty-two first lieutenants he stood sixteen m military merit. November 
21, 1776, he was captain of the third company in the second regiment un- 
der Col. Philip Van Courtlandt, in which place and position he appears in 
1777. He signed a petition against the further depreciation of continental 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 69 

money, a petition which was circulated generally about that time. He 
was a committee with Henry Sherburne to procure signers to the "asspci 
ation " in this Precinct in 177."). He appears latest in connection with the 
army officially, in making a return Feb. 3, 1780, of ••improperly absentees 
from this regiment." 

LEWIS GRAHAM. 

Lewis Graham, brother to Charles, was elected to the first Provincial 
Congress of the Colony of New York, May 8, 1775, from Westchester Coun- 
ty. November 7th following, he was re-elected to the second Provincial 
Congress, which convened in New York November 14th following, which 
continued without dissolution — having several sessions — until the second 
Tuesday of May, 1770. Mr. Graham was an associator from Westchester 
County, and a member of the sub-committee of the "borough and town of 
Westchester" in '75 and '76, and in the latter year was a member of the 
committee to detect conspiracies, in which he took an active part. He 
held a commission as Colonel and was also Judge. His name appears in 
the early civil records of North East Precinct, where an inherited land in- 
terest was located. He signed the "association " when member of the first 
Provincial Congress of New York, held in New York, May 26, 1775, when 
all the members signed the same. 

MORRIS GRAHAM. 

Morris Graham, brother to Charles and Lewis, was one of the commit- 
tee — composed of two, William Stewart was the other — from North East 
Precinct, to attend a general meeting of the several precincts of Duchess 
County, held in Charlotte Precinct April 14, 1775, to elect delegates to the 
Provincial Convention, which was to meet in New York April 20th follow 
ing. Morris Graham was chosen as a delegate at this Precinct meeting, 
and his associate county delegates were Robert R. Livingston and Egbert 
Benson. Mr. Graham was not a member of the first Provincial Congress, 
but was chosen at the election of the second Congress, as appears from the 
following certificate: 

"This is to certify that at the election held at Poughkeepsie in the 
county of Dutchess in pursuance of a resolution of the Provincial Congress 
of this Colony on the 27th of October last, under the inspection of the gen- 
eral committee of the said County on the seventh and eighth days of 
November 1775. Petrus Tenbroeck, Beverly Robinson, Cornelius Humphrey, 
Henry Schenck, Gilbert Livingston, John Kaine, Jacob Everson, Morris 
Graham and Robert G. Livingston, Jun. , Esquires, were elected deputies 
for the County of Dutchess, with power to them or any three of them, to 
represent the said county in a Provincial Congress for the Colony of New 
York appointed to meet at the city of New York on the fourteenth instant 

"EGBERT BENSON, Chairman Committee. 
"Dutchess County, November 8, 1775." 

Morris Graham was an associator, and with Augustine Graham, his 
brother, was a member of the committee in North East Precinct to 
attend the election of military officers. 



70 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

In 1775 he was Lieut. Colonel in Colonel Ten Broeck's regiment of 
militia. This regiment was first in rank of the six regiments of Militia in 
Dutchess County. Subsequently he was promoted to Colonel, and as such 
officer headed the list of officers in his regiment in a petition to "Honora- 
ble George Clinton, Esqr., Brigadier General in the United States of 
America" to appoint Abraham Teller as surgeon for this regiment in the 
place of William Forman who had been appointed "without the knowledge 
or recommendation of Colonel of said regiment or any of the other officers' ' 
and whom they pray "to be discharged." Clinton referred the petition to 
a committee which reported "the surgeon was regularly appointed and 
your committee are of opinion is a matter in which they may not of right 
interfere." Clinton denied the petition. The officers signing this petition 
were Morris Grabam, Col. ; Boswell Hopkins, Lieut. Col. ; William Barker, 
Major; Reuben Hopkins, Adjutant; Captains — William Stewart, Peter 
Stoutenburgh, Andrew Hermance, John VanSteenburgh, Elisha Barlow, 
James Teller; Lieutenants — John C. Hardenburgh, Ebenezer Mott, Wil- 
liam Deniston, Harmon J. Knickerbacker, George Sharp, JohnSeton, Ben- 
jamin Bogardus, Samuel Waters, Stephen Edgett, Willian Mead, Ezra St. 
John, Ebenezer Carter. 

December 19, 1776, " a secret committee was appointed by the conven- 
tion of this state, directing a number of volunteers to be raised under 
the command of Colonels Dubois, Graham and Thomas, Lieut-Colonel 
Hammer and Capt. Dutcher." 

Col. Graham was an ardent patriot and went into the service at the 
commencement of the Revolution, and remained in the service until the 
end. He was in command as colonel in several regiments and much 
esteemed. He died in 1805 or 6 in Deerfield, N. Y , at the home of his 
his sister, Arabella Graham. He never married. Col. Lewis Graham of 
Westchester Co. , was a brother. 

WILLIAM STEWART. 

William Stewart was the associate of Morris Graham from North East 
Precinct to attend a meeting in Charlotte Precinbt April 14 1775, to elect 
delegates to the Provincial Convention in New York city. Being an asso- 
ciator he was one of the committee associated with Nathaniel Mead, J. 
Simmons and Frederick Ham to secure names to the "Association," and 
also one of the committee appointed to inspect the election of officers of 
the companies in North East Precinct, August 26, 1775. He was adjutant 
in Col. Ten Broeck's regiment, to which these companies were assigned. 
At a later date he was captain in a regiment, Colonel Morris Graham com- 
manding. 

JAMES STEWART. 

"Captain" James Stewart attempted to enlist a company in 1776, and 
after enlisting nearly half the required number the committee on stores. 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAJft, 71 

reported "that the 37 arras now fit for use be put into the hands of Captain 
.Tames Stewart for the use of the men now raised and to be raised by him." 

James Livingston in a letter to John Jay dated "New York, 21 
August, 1776," writes "as soon as Stewart's company is filled, General 
Washington will order him northward." This company, though not full, 
was joined to the New York second Independent regiment, Colonel Win. 
Malcolm commanding. The Colonel received orders to stop the pay to 
Captain Stewart for recruiting, hence the company was not filled. Stewart 
subsequently memorialized the Provincial Congress for pay in raising this 
company. With what success is not reported. 

December 14, 1776, under the "new arrangement" — a reorganization 
of the army about that time — he was captain in the fifth New York 
Continental regiment, Colonel Louis DuBois commanding. February 
12, 1777, he sent a memorial to the Committee of Safety, then 
convened in New York, for the back pay of Allen Grant who enlisted 
under Stewart in the company assigned to Colonel Malcolm's regiment. 
Grant was taken prisoner on New York island, September 15, 1776, and 
subsequently exchanged at Milford, Connecticut. The Committee referred 
him to Colonel Malcolm, writing " as it is most likely the Colonel received 
pay for such as had the misfortune to be made prisoners of war." 

Captain Stewart was one of the board at a general court martial, 
Colonel Louis DuBois president, held at Fort Montgomery, April 30, 1777, 
by order of Brigadier General George Clinton. He signed a petition 
against the further depreciation of the Continental currency, and his last 
military act, according to the record, was a "return" in February, 1780, 
"of the absentees of the 5th New York Regiment. James Stewart, 
Capt. Commanding." 

Reference has been made to a "New Arrangement" or re-organization 
of the army in 1776. How this came about, and its result, is not generally 
known. The general congress at Philadelphia September 16, 1776, 
•Resolved that eighty-eight Battalions be enlisted as soon as possible, 
and that the State of New York furnish four of that number, and that the 
appointment of all officers and filling up vacancies (except general) be left 
to the government of the several states." 

Officers were commissioned or warranted with the rank assigned for 
the enlistment of volunteers in accordance with this resolution, the persons 
enlisting expecting to serve in the respective companies of the enlisting 
officers. But October second following, the general congress said: "As the 
army has greatly suffered through the defeat of some of its regimental 
officers, therefore Resolved that it be recommended to the assemblies and 
conventions of the respective states to use their utmost endeavors that all 
the officers to be hereafter appointed be men of honor, known abilities, 
without a particular regard to their having before been in service.'' In 
accordance with this resolution, October 15, 1776. "the convention of the 



73 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

representatives of this state" by ballot appointed John Jay, Lewis Graham. 
Robert Harpur, James Duane, Jacob Cuyler, Robert Yates and William 
Duer — to whom Charles DeWitt was afterwards added — a committee to get 
the character and ability of the inferior officers then in the arm}. 
Lewis Graham, Robert Harpur, and Charles DeWitt were sent to the army 
under Washington, and James Duane, Jacob Cuyler and Robert Yates were 
sent to the army under General Schuyler to obtain information and report 
to the "Committee of Arrangement" which met at Fishkill on the fifteenth 
day of November, 1776. 

The next day — sixteenth — the Committee proceeded to appoint the 
Colonels for the four battalions under the "New Arrangement" and were 
"unanimous" in appointing Goes Van Schaick colonel of the first battalion 
Philip Van Courtlandt of the second, and Peter Ganesvoort for the third. 
As to the fourth a discussion arose respecting Henry B. Livingston, who 
was recommended by Genl. Washington as a "brave and active officer." 
and Lieut. Colonel Wisenf els. Much was said in favor of each, and finally 
out of respect to General Washington. Livingston was appointed colonel of 
the fourth battalion. 

About this time the fifth regiment was being raised and Lewis Dubois. 
a colonel in the first organization, was asked to command, which in the 
order would make him fifth in rank, and under Colonel Livingston. He 
declined, stating that he was a major under General Montgomery in Can- 
ada when Livingston was a captain, and further when a colonel under the 
first arrangement in 1775 he commanded Livingston, then a Lieut. Colonel. 
This and much more was said before the committee who informed Living- 
ston of the difficulty. At first "he seemed unwilling to yield it, but 
before he left the room told the committee that if Colonel DuBois' appoint- 
ment to that rank would conduce to the public service he would acquiesce. " 
The committee reported this arrangement to the convention, and under its 
recommendation Congress ordered the raising of the fifth battalion (regi- 
ment) and appointed the colonels of the five regiments to rank in this order 
Van Schaick, Van Courtlandt, Ganesvoort, DuBois and Livingston. These 
changes produced dissatisfaction to some extent throughout Dutchess 
Count}', and retarded enlistments. Many officers in the first organizations 
resigned and never returned to the army, the reason as reported in the 
Manuscripts being "either on account of promotion, resignation or death " 
The returns in the military manuscripts are greatly mixed and confused in 
consequence of the "new arrangement," as officers and companies are 
changed to different regiments, whichchanges are placed on file without 
explanation. 

COURTS MARTIAL. 

It was in the winter of '76 and '77 when the "New Arrangement" was 
being made. The disappointment and diaffection it caused, increased the 
morale of the opposite or "Tory" side, and eased the burden of those 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 73 

weighed down or silenced for conscience' sake. When the war was inaug- 
urated in lTTo at the battle of Lexington the branches of the government 
of the colony of New York were loyal to King George III. The machinery 
for beginning a new government was in the hands of a few men like 
George Clinton, Philip Schuyler, Robert R. Livingston, Jr., and Abraham 
Ten Broeck to lead and direct, who, as a class were too few to accomplish 
much with an almost equally divided people. 

The list from the North East Precinct already given shows a large num- 
ber who refused to sign the association, and as a great proportion against 
was found in southern Columbia and further north. In the Mohawk 
Valley Sir John Johnson boasted "the Tories were as five to one.'' 

Against all this opposition of nearly two years an army, such as it was, 
had been raised, and a new state government formed, and at the time of 
the "new arrangement" in the late winter and early spring of 1777 it had 
sustaining strength. The screws tightened by every turn of the lever in 
the form of Court Martial, which now had an army to support that court 
in the execution of its judgment It could sit, hear, decide and condemn 
without fear, but as yet sentence of execution remained with the "Commit- 
tee of Safety.'' 

About this time — the spring of 1777 — England organized and set in 
motion her last and greatest campaign against America, known in history 
as the "tripartite campaign." Agents were secretly enlisting men in North 
East Precinct and Livingston's Manor for the King's army in April and 
May of that year. These were closely watched, and enlistor and enlisted 
were sent to Kingston, where a court martial was held in June 1777. Its 
doings index the times, and the proceedings of the court are thus recorded : 

"Examination of Tories from Livingston's Manor confined m Kingston 
Gaol and resolution respecting them. 

"Jerry Wheeler, of Livingston's Manor, being examined, said that 
Jerry Finkle and Christian Ware administered to him the oath of secrecy 
and allegiance to King George in the month of April last, that he has been 
imprisoned about six weeks, had got six loaves and three quarts of 
peas, 8 s. 

"John Lyke, of Livingston Manor, being examined saith, that he wa s 
sworn to secrecy by said Jerry Finkle and Christian Ware, that he has 
been confined litre about six weeks, and during that time had received five 
loaves, 5 s. 

"Christopher Hagadorn, of the said Manor, being examined, said that 
he has taken the oaths of secrecy and allegiance to King George, that 
Christian Ware administered to him the said oaths. That Peter Krine and 
John Moore told him on the Monday next succeeding the Friday that 



74 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

the powder had been stolen out of Mr. Livingston's mill, that the quantity 
so taken was nine hundred weight. That he has been six weeks impris- 
oned here during which time he has had six loaves of bread and once 
pork, 7 s. 

"Hendrick Smith, Jim., of said Manor, acknowledged that at the house 
of Peter Miller, of Nobletown, (Hillsdale.— I. H.) the aforesaid Ware with 
said Finkle administered an oath of secrecy to him. That he has been con- 
fined here seven weeks, during which time he has got five loaves of 
bread, 5 s. 

"Arent Decker, of said Manor, acknowledged that he has been sworn 
to secrecy and allegiance to King George by said Ware and Finkle. That 
he has a sick wife and six small children. That he has been seven weeks a 
prisoner, during which time he has had six loaves, and biscuits twice and 
two pints of peas, 9 s." 

" Thos. Anderson being duly sworn deposeth and saith he lives next 
neighbor to Dr. Latham in the manor of Livingston, that he never swore 
either the oatli of secrecy or allegiance to the King, that [John Rossman 
wanted him to swear, for that they (meaning the Tories) were well forti- 
fied. Said Rossman then told him that Capt. Benjamin VanLuven, of 
the Little Nine Partners, (Benj. VanLuven lived on the Lewis Keefer farm, 
Pine Plains. — I. H. ) had taken seven hundred weight of powder, and had 
also taken the lead from the nets at the river, and that a brother to Capt. 
Donald (Daniel) Wilson helped said Rossman to cast the bullets. 

THOS. ANDERSON. 

Sworn before me June 24, 1777. 

PETER. P. VANZANDT. 

"William Merrifield, (of North East Precinct. — I. H. ) prisoner saith, 
that he was sworn to secrecy by Arnault Veile, that Capt. Benjamin Van 
Luven of the Little Nine Partners, told his family in the hearing of the 
prisoner, that there was powder stolen, and leads cut off the nets at the 
river, that Benjamin Knickerbacker and he had been fishing at the said 
river, that while a prisoner here he has had three loaves of bread of the 
commissary and that he had pork twice. 6 s. 

" Ulrick Streble (modern Strever. — I. H.) prisoner saith, that Arnout 
Viele has in April last sworn him to secrecy and allegiance to King George 
at the house of Hendric Huysraat, that while in confinement here he has 
had twelve leaves and nine quarts of peas, 17 s. 

" Tennis Snyder saith he was sworn to secrecy and allegiance to King 
George by Christian Ware and Jerry Finkle, that Ware and Finkle said 
they had got their power from Col. John Hueston and that said Col. had 
orders from General Howe and Governor Tryon. That he has had while 
in confinement fourteen loaves of bread, 14 s. 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 75 

' ' Nicholas Wheeler saith he has been sworn to secrecy and allegiance 
to the King by Christian Ware and Yerick Viele. That while in confine- 
ment he has had six loaves of bread, 6 s. 

" Johannis Dings saith he has been sworn to secrecy and allegiance to 
King George by Arnout Viele That he has got five loaves of bread and 
peas twice, 6 s. 

' 'Daniel Mclntyre saith he has been sworn to secrecy by Arnout Viele, 
who offered him the oath of allegiance also, but he refused him, that he 
lias been seven Aveeks in prison, that he got eight loaves, 8 s. 

''Jacob Teethrick (modern Diedrick.— I. H.) saith he has been sworn 
to secrecy by Christopher Superly and one Rogers, saith he lives in 
Livingston Manor. That he has been in prison six weeks and has had 
twelve loaves, 12 s. 

"Kingston, June 24, 1777. 

" In committee for examining and releasing prisoners. Present Mr. 
VanZant, Mr. Harper. 

"JResolved, That having examined the following persons confined in 
the Fleet prison, and finding them willing to come under the obligation of 
an oath of allegiance to this state, they have been recommended for 
pardon by the committee of the manor of Livingston. 

DERICK JANSEN, Chairman. 

"Hostages— George Fandle, Jerry Wheeler, John Lyke, William Merri- 
rield, Ulric Streble, Teunis Snyder, Christopher Hoghadone, Nicholas 
Wheeler, Hendrick, Smith, Jun., Johannes Dings, Arent Decker, Daniel 
Mclntire, Thos. Henderson, Jacob Teethrick." 

"Arnout Vielie of Livingston Manor," mentioned in the foregoing pro- 
ceedings, having gained great notoriety in this business, was tried by a 
court martial sitting in Albany on the preceding May 21, 1777. The court 
was called by order of Brigadier General TenBrceck and consisted of Col. 
Stephen J. Schuyler, President ; Colonels, Anthony Van Bergen, Jacobus 
Van Schoonhoven, Peter Vroman and William B. Whiting ; Lieut. Colonels, 
Philip P. Schuyler, John H. Beekman, Henry K. VanRenseslaer, James 
Gordon and Cornelius Van Vechten ; Majors, Flores Banker, Isaac Goes, 
Jacob Ford, Andrew Mitchel, Abraham Cuyler, John Van Rensselaer; Cap- 
tains, John N. Bleeker, Andries Douw, Abraham Oothout and Caleb Bent- 
ley. Lieut. Col. Richard Varick, Judge Advocate. 

"The charge against Velie was " you Arnout Velie stand charged for 
that you being a member of the state of New York, protected by the laws, 
thereof and owing allegiance thereto, on the 28th day of April last past, 

[Note.— The Dings family was one of the earliest settlers, and lived on the present Col. 
Silvernail farm about three miles north of Pine Plains village. The Dings house stood 
nearly opposite the present Silvernail dwelling, a few rods northward and on the opposite 
side of the road.— I. H.] 



76 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

and at divers other days and times, both before and after and since the 
16th day of July, 1776, at the Manor of Livingston in the county of Albany, 
did wickedly, traitorously and treasonably, contrary to your allegiance 
aforesaid, levy war against the said state within the same, by enlisting many 
of the subjects of the said state, into the service of the King of Great Brit- 
ain, then and now in actual war against the said state within the same and 
by swearing divers persons the subjects of the said state to bear faith and 
true allegiance to the said King of Great Britain, and to defend his crown 
and dignity, thereby adhering to the King of Great Britain and others the 
enemies of the said state within the same, giving them aid and comfort 
contrary to the resolutions of the said state." 

Vielie confessed to the swearing of several persons to the oaths of se- 
crecy and allegiance to the King, but plead not guilty to the charge of en- 
listing men. The oath of secrecy was : "I, A. B., do swear to keep secret 
all that you shall say or read to me, and not to reveal the same to 
blood relations or any person whatsoever. So help me God." The oath of 
allegiance was: "I, A. B., do swear to be true to King George, and 
serve him honestly and faithfully in defense of his person, crown and dig- 
nify against all his enemies in America or opposers whatsoever, to keep 
secret and to observe and obey the orders of my superior officers that shall 
lie issued from time to time. So help me God." 

The trial lasted several days, in which several prominent men in the 
Manor for and against were witnesses. After hearing all the evidence the 
court pronounced "the prisoner guilty of all the charges exhibited against 
him and do sentence him to suffer death." This was endorsed 'Confirmed 
to be hanged" by the Council of Safety at Kingston, to which the findings of 
the court martial were referred. An earnest and pathetic appeal to the 
Council for the remission of his sentence signed by ninety-eight influential 
men and patriots in Albany County under dateof June 24, 1777, is endorsed 
"rejected." 

Vielie was not twenty one, not well educated, yet coidd read English 
and translate it into Dutch. His parents were dead and he had two sisters. 
Probably the Council deemed it wise to check the tory element in Living- 
ston Manor in permitting his execution. Nearly all the prisoners tried at 
this court martial were_from Livingston's Manor and the "Manor of Rense- 
laerwyck. " War and sentiment that year were incompatible. 

CLASS MONEY. 

In an old docket of Justice Jonathan Landon, of NorthEast Precinct — 
an extremely interesting historical document, which by permission was 
taken from a lot of "worthless" papers in an old chest of the Landon 
descendants and preserved by Mr. Silas I. Deuel, of Pine Plains — are the 
following entries : 

" Abraham Etartwell vs. Aaron Dolph, Amos Evart, Benjamin Blan- 
cher, Daniel Baker. June 7, 1781. Warrant for Class Money. 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 77 

" Gi'orgo Wait vs. Martin Adsit, .January 21, 1782. Plaintiff declares 
for 7 s. 6 p. class money. On trial by jury verdict for defendant. 

•' John Copeland vs. Samuel Crandle, April, 1 Ts:j. Plaintiff declares 
tor 5 bushels of wheat and 5 s. in money, and Damages in Prosecution for 
("lass Money. 

" John Copeland vs. John Crandle. Plaintiff declares for the sum of 
ten bushels and one half of wheat for himself and two sons, < 'lass Wheat. 
Paid 28 April, 1783." .What is class money or class wheat ? 

To raise troops for the "Defence of the Frontier of this state" the 
legislature passed special acts in 1781, 2 and 3, and amendments to the 
same, arranging the army into classes to receive bounty monies and un 
appropriated lands, which were given to those procuring enlistments and 
to those enlisting. It caused discontent and trouble in its application in 
many ways, for the first two years — '81 and '82 — and in fact was not 
exempt from difficulties at the last. Suits were instituted under the acts 
of each year, but the one passed February 21, 1783, was the one most 
prolific of suits for class money and its equivalent in wheat and other 
barter. 

The first act for the ''defence of the state" was passed March 20, 1781 : 
at the fourth session of the legislature of the state. The officers and men 
under this act were to receive bounties of unappropriated land as follows : 

"Lieutenant Colonel and Major each four rights, a captain and a sur- 
geon each three rights, a lieutenant, ensign and surgeon's mate each two 
rights, and each non-commissioned officer and private one right, and that 
each right shall consist of five hundred acres." These lands were to be 
granted by the legislature as soon as a survey could be made after the ex- 
piration of the time of service, and sixty-one rights collectively in one 
location should be laid out in a township seven miles square, including one 
reserve right for "the support of the gospel and the remaining three bun 
dred and sixty acres for the use of a school in such township." One pro 
vision of this act was that any man soliciting another to enlist could take a 
transfer of the rights of the man so enlisted. 

March 23, 1782, at the fifth session of the legislature a supplementary 
act to the above was passed, as the former act did not "complete the said 
regiments to their full establishment." These two acts had reference prin- 
cipally to "class rights" in "bounty lands." 

The third act of February 21, 1783, at the sixth session, gave the got 
ernor power, at his discretion, to call out six hundred men for eight 
months, the men to be selected from a list, made by the captains in the 
regiments, of persons sixteen years and upwards, within each of their re 
spective beats. The men so enrolled were to be divided into classes by a 
board of regimental and field officers, each class to consist of so many nun 
as the governor shall direct. From the classes so arranged men were to be 
drawn to fill the draft, an assessment being made on the whole class for 



78 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

the bounty and expenses of the men so drawn from it, and ' 'if any person 
refusing to pay the sum assessed upon him shall not be possessed of goods 
and chattels whereof the same can be levied, the said commanding officer 
shall by warrant under his hand be directed to any sergeant of the regi 
ment cause such person to be committed to the gaol of the county, there to 
remain without bail or mainprise until the sum so assessed upon him shall 
be paid to the commanding officer of the regiment." 

The act further declares, which clause is probably the one on which 
the suits for "class money" and "bounty money" were brought, "that 
whenever any person or persons belonging to any class shall procure a man 
for the same at his or their own proper expense, to serve in such troops, 
and all the persons composing such class cannot agree for the mode of ap- 
portionment of such sum, the assessors of the district where the major 
part of such class shall reside, or any two or more of them, shall and may 
apportion the sum paid, as and for a bounty to such man, and assess the 
persons comprising such class agreeable to their circumstances and abili- 
ties, and that the assessment or apportionment so to be made in pursuance 
of this law shall upon suit to be commenced for the recovery of any part of 
such bounty before any justice of the peace of the county who is hereby 
authorized to take cognizance thereof, be deemed conclusive evidence to 
entitle the plaintiff to receive the sum assessed with costs of suit against 
the defendant, in which suit a jury shall be granted in manner aforesaid if 
required and execution shall by the said justice be forthwith granted 
accordingly." 

The suits referred to were evidently money and wheat borrowed to pay 
class assessments. Class rights and bounty rights were transferable, and 
became the subject of special legislative enactment for several years. The 
commanding officers made returns to the governor for all class and bounty 
monies, which were filed in the United States treasury, and were credited 
to the state in the final settlement of the general expense of the war. 

How class rights were sustained by the legislature is seen in a special 
act passed as late as April 4, 1803. 

"Whereas it appears that there remain deposited in the surveyor gen- 
eral's office class rights, the property of Peter Edmund Elmendorph, 
which, while the laws authorizing locations were in force, entitled him to 
to locate and receive a grant of three hundred and forty acres of unappro- 
priated land, but which has not been granted, Therefore, Be it enacted by 
the people of the state of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly ; 
that the commissioners of the land office be and they are hereby authorized 
to grant unto the said Peter Edmund Elmendorph his heirs and assigns the 
said quantity of three hundred and forty acres of vacant land in the east- 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 79 

ern district of this state not otherwise appropriated or reserved for special 
purposes hy law ; Provided that all the expenses of the survey thereof, and 
the other incidental expenses that may arise thereon shall he paid hy the 
said Peter Edmund Elmendorph." 

UNSETTLED REVOLUTIONARY WAR CLAIMS. 

For several years after the close of the revolutionary war, petitions for 
payment of services were presented to the legislature at every session. 
One instance will serve to show their character. It is reported in the asseni- 
bly journal. 

"Monday, February 18, 17'Jo. Mr. Niles from the committee to whom 
was referred the petition of Hugh Montgomery and others praying a pro- 
vision for the payment of their services for one month as levies in a regi- 
ment commandod by Morris Graham in the time of tbe late war, reported 
that the claim of the petitioners may be good against the United States, 
but not against this state, and that therefore the prayer of the petitioners 
ought not to be granted." 

PROSPECTING FOR LEAD IN NORTH EAST PRECINCT IN 1776. 

At the commencement of the war, in 1776, the question of lead for 
bullets and other purposes, was an important one, and efforts were made 
to develop a mine at the present Shacameco, where traces of lead had been 
discovered. According to instructions from the Provincial Congress at 
New York through its committee, John McDonald, a miner from Scotland, 
on the 25th day of June, 1775, commenced working that mine. Moses 
Harris had been prospecting in that locality and given information in re- 
gard to this mine, he having examined the diggings which were made 
.several years previous. Indeed mining had been done there in 1740 by 
some Hollanders, Van Hook and Tiebout, who sent the ore to Bristol in 
England and Amsterdam in Holland, which assayed 45 ounces of silver 
and 80 ounces of copper to the ton. (Mathers' Geological Report.) 

In March, 1776, McDonald examined the locality and made a report 
subscribed before Jonathan Landon, a justice of the peace in North East 
Precinct, which was presented to the Provincial Congress or Convention 
.sitting then in New York. At that convention a committee on "Lead, 
Sulphur and Flint" was appointed consisting of Henry Wisner, William 
Harper, Matthew Cantine, Jonathan Landon and Matthew Adgate, of which 
Mr. Adgate was chairman. From this committee McDonald received these 
instructions, June 13, 1776: 

"You are immediately to repair to the Nine Partncis in Dutchess 
County, where you are to endeavor to open the pits or shafts of which 
John Bogart is now owner, and was formerly carried on by VanHook ami 
Tiebout. You are to employ proper persons to assist you, not exceeding 
four, at the cheapest rate, and clear out the pits or shafts as soon as possi- 



80 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

ble, and as soon as you have cleared out the same, you are immediately to 
repair to New York, unless you reeeive other directions from us or the 
Provincial Congress, or some person whom we shall send or the Provincial 
Congress. " 

Accompanying these instructions to McDonald was this letter addressed 
to Col. Lewis Graham and Jonathan Landon, who were then residents of 
North East Precinct, and living at the present Pine Plains 

"By order of the Congress we send up McDonald, a miner, to clear out 
the pits or shafts of which VanHook and Tiebouit formerly carried on. You 
will please to give him what assistance you can in employing hands, not 
exceeding four, the pay for which the Congress will allow." 

Thus prepared John McDonald commenced work June 25, 1770, on the 
hill or knoll near the present Shacameco depot. After clearing the pits of 
the "rubbish" with difficulty on account of the water, he reports July 16, 
1776. 

"In the first pit discovered a small quantity of lead in three different 
places, about two inches in diameter lying about five foot distant, not in a 
continued vein. The bottom is free from any prospect. The second pit is 
more likely by the appearance of the spar, and found lead in four places, 
about two or three inches in diameter, six foot distant, not containing a 
continued vein. The bottom is entirely void of the appearance of mines. 
Both pits are not worthy of pursuing at present unless further promising 
discoveries be made. To-morrow am going to clear the pit of 50 feet deep, 
and another small pit, by order of Mr. Thompson, which I shall finish 
with all convenient speed and immediately thereafter shall repair for 
New York and transmit the full account of my proceedings, unless I 
receive further instructions. The truth of this small report, etc., Mr. Lan- 
don will describe more at large to you. 

John McDonald, Miner." 

Ezra Thompson, who then lived at the "Federal Square," was superin- 
tendent, acting in conjunction with Jonathan Landon, one of the commit- 
tee on Lead, .Sulphur and Flint. Thompson meantime had furnished 
McDonald these tools : one iron mail hammer, two shovels, two iron 
picks, four iron wedges, one broad faced ax, one inch auger, one hand 
saw, ten fathom of rope with an iron hook, one windlass wheel for draw 
ing rubbish from pits, two buckets eighteen inches deep, with iron hoops 
and handles. Mr. Thompson reports one hundred and nine days labor up 
to this time, and has advanced seven pounds, eleven shillings and six 
pence. "Mr. McDonald's behavior," he writes, "was very agreeable to all 
his neighbors." 

August 17, 1 776, McDonald made another report. After repeating in 
part the labor performed in the first report, he writes: "Thirdly, beginning 
to the southwest, about the middle of said hill, there cleared two pits which 
appeared equal in quantity and quality agreeable to the situation of the 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 81 

first and last pit cleared at the aforesaid northeast end of the hill. The 
vein of spar appears three inches broad, and where Mr. Harris undertook 
to make an advantageous discovery, have digged eighteen foot length and 
ebout three foot deep. There I found a vein of ore containing two inches 
broad at which spent four days and raised near three or four hundred 
weight of lead ore ; but it appears to be sometimes decreasing and increas- 
ing, which being the usual case in the former trials done. I remarked 
that it is possible to procure a, little quantity of ore in each vein or branches 
in this bounds. Therefore if your honors incline to prosecute peradven- 
ture in expectation to fall into a body, the method is to open and search 
the ground where it is supposed such do most frequently lie, as I have in 
my former report described at large the dimension and situation of mine 
hill. I'll proceed no further concerning adventuring for public purpose. 
but leave it to your honors' serious consideration. 

John McDonald, Miner." 

At this time, or soon thereafter, he abandoned mining in pits and com 
menced in another place to the northeast near the present highway bridge 
This was in accordance to the instructions by the committee, who sent 
him back after making his last report, to make further examination. Of 
this change in location he makes this report Oct. 16, 1776: 

"To explore into a further discovery of the lead mine, in compliance 
with the request, have conducted chiefly where my judgment in mining 
had an expectation of meeting with the best promising appearances accor- 
ding to the limited space appointed to explore the mines, which within 
forty-two rods to the northeast end of the hill, there opened thirty foot in 
Length and in some places digged three foot deep and in other places have 
sunk six foot. The depth in general is six foot, and breadth thereof three 
foot. There discovered a vein about two or .three inches breadth, which 
decreases and increases. In there raised fifteen hundred weight of ore, 
when sufficiently dressed for sale or smeiting, and that is my positive 
estimation. 

He recommends a further trial and refers the committee to Col. Lewis 
Graham and Jonathan Landon, who inspected the work. When the 
committee received this report they were holding a session at Fishkill. Oct. 
16, 1 776, and ' ' taking the same into consideration thereon agreed with the 
said John McDonald, miner, to pursue the exploring said mine, and for 
that purpose made an agreement with him." 

This agreement, entered into October 16, 1776, stipulates '-that he, the 
said John McDonald, shall sink the lead mine which he has lately opened, 
in the Great Nine Partners in Dutchess County, twelve feet in depth from 
its present state, and extend the same thirty feet in length and three feet 
in breadth, in such direction as he shall think best to pursue the vein and 
carefully separate the ore from the rubbish and deliver the same to the 



82 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

order of this convention." He was to furnish everything, report once a 
month, and to receive ten pounds for every six feet in depth, six feet in 
length, and three feet in breadth, which he shall sink in said mine. 

November 16th following, according to contract, he reports: "When 
at my entry Mr. Ezra Thompson here measured twenty four feet in length 
from west to east, which course being and are the inclination of the veins, 
and perfectly appeared to be the most promising prospect to work. I here 
wrought and blasted the rocks with the men I employed until the veins 
became mixed with different kinds of ugly rocks, which brought to disap- 
pear yielding any quantity worthy of pursuing to advantage, and I 
therefore prosecuted into several veins going to the southward, cross from 
the said dimensions, and therein digged out about seventy six weight of 
ore during the driving about three feet in length, ten and a half feet in 
depth and twelve feet in breadth, and at conclusion of the same, ore almost 
disappeared. At my pursuit in the said thirty-four feet length from west 
to east raised about twenty-six weight of ore. The nearest estimation of 
the lead ore is nine hundred weight," He lays out some plans for "driving 
a level, sinking, cross cutting and raising," which will involve an outlay of 
six thousand pounds, and writes the present manner of prospecting will 
not "clear the tenth part of working." 

This report was read to the committee at a session in Fishkill Dec. 0, 
J 776 and it was thereupon 

"Resolved, That this committea will not prosecute the exploring the 
lead mine in the Great Nine Partners any further and ordered that the let- 
ter No. 5 be sent by the chairman to said McDonald, miner." Letter No. 5 
was written by the chairman, Mr. Adgate to McDonald notifying him of 
the action of the committee, requesting him to meet the committee at 
Fishkill and to bring a certificate from Ezra Thompson of the amount 
of excavation under the last contract. Mr. Thompson's certificate is dated 
Dec. 3, 1776, and reads: 

" According to your orders of the 1st Dec. 1776, I have measured the 
work done by McDonald and his workmen since his last agreement with 
you and the committee appointed to explore mines in this state, viz. : he 
sunk from the west to the east five feet depth, and extended the same 
twenty-four feet in length and three feet in breadth. He also had sunk 
from northeast to the southwest eleven feet in depth and extended the 
same two and a half feet in length and twelve feet in breadth. The above 
different measures are as exact as I could make. By agreement McDonald 
was to dig one hundred and eighty cubic feet for ten pounds. He has dug- 
six hundred and ninety cubic feet, which, at the rate of ten pounds for 
one hundred and eighty, amounts to sixty-three pounds, seven shillings 
and nine pence. 

Ezra Thompson." 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 83 

The committee met again at the same place Dec. 9, 1776, when McDon- 
ald laid before them the certificate of Mr. Thompson. 

"Ordered, That the chairman of the committee pay the same and take 
said Mr. McDonald's receipt therefor. To enable the payment of McDonald 
account. 

Resolved, That the chairman draw from the treasurer the sum of one 
hundred dollai's, a part of the money allowed this committee. 

Ordered, That the chairman sign and send the letter to Ezra 
Thompson, Esq.'' 

In April, 1777, Ezra Thompson and Jonathan Landon, as superinten 
dents, applied to this committee for settlement for their services. The 
committee referred their account to the Committee of Safety, who ordered 
the Committee on Lead, Sulphur and Flints to audit the account and pay 
it out of the public money. 

McDonald, in the following April, 1777, met the Committee on Lead, 
Etc., then setting at Kingston, N. Y. , who sent him to explore a mine at 
Rochester, Ulster Co., and report a plan for working it, for which he was 
allowed eight shillings a day and subsistence. He returned and made his 
report to the committee at Kingston, April 18th, 1777, whereupon they 
employed him to "clear the pit" at Rochester, at the same time giving him 
an order on Ezra Thompson for the tools at the Great Nine Partner mine. 
This order read as follows : 

••Kingston, April 18th, 1777. 

Mr. Thompson, Sir. — You will deliver the mining tools now in your 
custody to John McDonald, taking his receipt for their delivery. You will 
be so good as to assist McDonald in getting a carriage for removing said 
tools. McDonald will pay for the same. By order of the Committee for 
exploring mines, Etc. 

MAT. ADGATE, Chairman.'' 

This was the final act of the government at the lead mines in the 
Great Nine Partners, as it was then called. 

These mines thus became historic and lay dormant until 1853, when 
Ward W. Bryan, being the owner of the farm containing them, a mining 
company was formed in New York for prospecting. William H. Hughes, 
August 29th, 1853, in behalf of the company, took a lease for twelve 
years, with the privilege of renewal at its expiration for another term. 
Mr. Bryan Avas to receive "ten per cent, of all minerals so mined and 
quarried by the party of the second part." Under this lease Hughes 
worked about two years, prospecting, sinking shafts, and other ways, 
blasting with powder, using ordinary mining tools. About five tons were 
raised and shipped to New York. Hughes left suddenly, without explana 
tion or promise of return. The mystery was some time after brought to 



84 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

light in this way. Michael Rovve, better known as "Captain Mike" was a 
co-laborer with Hughes. In sinking a shaft a vein of uncommon purity 
and richness was discovered, when Hughes enjoined secrecy upon his 
companion, and left By the terms of the lease, if work was suspended 
for eight successive months it was forfeited. This had occurred since 
Hughes' departure and very soon after Hughes made application to Mr. 
Bryan for a lease of the property in his own name. The terms were agreed 
upon, the lease written and ready to sign, when Hughes died suddenly. 
He was found dead in his bed in New York city. Whether the " find" as 
reported by his companion is there is not known. Rovve did not disclose 
the " find" until after the death of Hughes. 

August 1st, 1855, this property was again leased — Ward W. Bryan 
being the proprietor — for mining purposes, by William Cotheal of New 
York, represented by F. H. Warner, his attorney. This lease. was to run 
twelve years and six months "from the date hereof" with privilege of 
renewal, and suspension of mining operations for one year worked 
forfeiture. About a year was spent under this lease in prospecting. An 
attempt to tunnel was made at the north end of the hill and about thirty 
feet were cut into the rock. Some of the shafts were cleaned out and the 
labor ended without much success. This lease was forfeited by discon- 
tinuance. 

About 1800 the farm containing the mines passed into the ownership 
of Calvin Bryan and brothers, sons of Ward W. Bryan, and November 
14th, 1862, the mines were again leased to Gust. A. Sacchi, who represen- 
ted a mining company in New York, having a capital of five hundred 
thousand dollars. This company worked the mines, using an engine for 
pumping and hoisting, the first work done here by steam. The company 
bought a small farm near by, furnishing wood for fi el and a boarding 
house. At one place a shaft was sunk seventy feet, with a draft north- 
ward at the bottom of twenty-five feet. This company worked about a 
a year-and-a-halfi and meanwhile about three hundred thousand dollars in 
stuck was sold. Then they abandoned the mines and forfeited their lease 
under a provision similar to the former lease. 

Mr. Calvin Bryan, the present sole proprietor of the mines, says the 
indications at the close of the work in the shaft sunk by this company, 
were better than any opened by all former work or companies. Geologists 
and mineralogists agree that a rich vein or pocket of ore lies at the bottom 
of the croppings in this range of mountains. As yet this hidden treasure 
has not been found. 

These mines were in the original boundaries of Amenia Precinct, in 
the Great Nine Partners. The subdivision of old precincts and towns to 
form new towns as now arranged, has placed these mines in the now town 
of North East. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE HIGHWAYS. 

In the spring of 1708 the General Assembly of the Province of New- 
York passed "an act for laying out highways throughout this province." 
This was the first legislative action within the limits of New York in refer- 
ence to roads. There were twelve acts passed by the "General Assembly" 
at that time, of which the highway act was the eleventh. The next spring 
(1704) it was amended, which amendment was in effect "an explanatory 
act (so far as relates to Richmond County) of a former act passed for lay- 
ing out highways in this province of which there is great need for till 
now (except a very few places) there are no roads passable.'' 

At the second session of the legislature of the State of New York, held 
at Po'keepsie in 1779 where the first w T as held, an act was passed "for the 
better laying out. regulating and keeping in repair all common and public 
highways and private roads in the counties of Ulster, Orange, Dutchess, 
Charlotte and Westchester. " Previous to the action of the state legisla- 
tures in regard to highways the commissioners of highways were appoint- 
ed by the courts. Thus in the court record in this county in 1761 w r e read 
"ordered that Caleb Smith be a commissioner for kiy'ing out highways in 
North East Precinct in room of Adam Beam, deceased." New York be- 
came a state in 1777, and this was the first act of its legislature in regard to 
highways. The act passed March 11th, 1779, and at the third session, 
held first at Kingston and by adjournment at Albany, the act was amended 
and made to include the counties of Albany and Tryon. This amendment 
passed March 13,1780. At the fourth session March 20, 1781, it was again 
amended and remained in force until April, 1784, wdien it expired by 
limitation. 

May 4, 1784, the legislature passed an act "for the better laying out, 
regulating and keeping in repair, all common and public highways and 
private roads in the counties of Ulster, Orange, Dutchess, Washington, 
Westchester, Albany and Montgomeiy " At this session (1784) Tryon 
county was changed in name to "Montgomery," and Charlotte to "Wash- 
ington." The preamble to this act is very significant and as true and 
appropriate now as then. It is a model for brevity and reads: "Whereas 
the keeping in good repair public roads and highways contributes greatly 
to the ease and advantage of the inhabitants of a country." 

This act was a general revision of all former acts so far as they were 
practically applicable, and an addition of what was necessary to meet the 



THE HIGHWAYS. 87 

public demand. It contained thirty three sections, which embody substan 
tially the system on which onr highways are governed now. The subse 
quent amendments have been principally local. The frame work has not 
been materially changed. 

Peace had been declared, war had ceased, substantial permanence was 
seen and felt in real estate and home, and good roads were as vital to com- 
mercial and financial prosperity, both public and private, as life itself. The 
time had come and the first public business after the war throughout the 
settled rural domain, was road-making. 

Section four of this act provides that all public roads "shall be of 
breadth not more than four rods nor less than two rods." April 20, 1787, 
this was amended "that all public roads or highways hereafter to be laid 
out by virtue of the act hereby amended shall be four rods wide at least." 
Another section (1784) provides that "all persons traveling eastward in any 
of the said roads or highways on the east side of Hudson's River shall give 
way to those traveling westward under penalty of twenty shillings for 
each offense, " and section thirty-two provides "that all laws heretofore 
governing highways are hereby repealed." 

Previous to the passage of this act no record had been made of high- 
ways in many instances, and many roads so called, were simply paths or 
"trails," having no legal status, having become "roads" by common usage. 
To remedy this defect the legislature March 16, 1785, passed the "the 
twenty year" act embraced in section four of the amendment to the above 
rogd act. It reads "and whereas there has been an omission of recording 
in the county records, the laying out of many of the public highways in 
Dutchess county by reason whereof several of the roads which have been 
used as public highways have been stopped up, and it is expected that the 
same will be done to others to the great damage of the public. For pre- 
venting whereof, be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all public- 
highways which have been used as such for the space of twenty years last 
past, shall be deemed and adjudged in the law to be public highways by 
the laws, and be subject to be altered and amended in the same manner as 
other public highways by the laws of this state may be altered and 
amended." 

The first mentioned division of the North East Precinct into highway 
districts, to my knowledge, is on a very much mutilated paper entitled ' 'The 
division of the districts of roads in the North East Precinct in Dutchess 
County into districts for the year 177C>. 

"No. 1. — Beginning at the Oblong line and running as far south as 
Joshua Hamlin's. 

"No. 2. — Beginning at the house of Charles Dolph, south to the Precinct 
Line, the cross road by Simon Dakin to the Oblong line. 



tfN HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

"No. 3. — Beginning at the Manor line running south to Ancramroad, to 
work up Ancram Road to the Manor east on the same road to Uriah Law- 
rence, including the cross road by Joshua Dakin's to Joshua Hamlin's. 

"No. 4. — Beginning at the Oblong line of Connecticut Salisbury road, 
running west as far as the Nine Partner's line, including cross roads. 

"No. 5. — Beginning north of Gilbert Clapp's bouse at the cross road 
running south to the meeting house, then on the main road east to the Ob 
long line. " [The meeting house was near the cemetery on Winchell Moun- 
tain. The site was calied "Mount Pleasant." — I. H.] 

"No. 6. — To continue west on the main road from the meeting house 
to the foot of the hill by the house of Alexander Bryan (near Pulver's Cor- 
ner. — I. H.) including crossroads. 

"No. 7. — Beginning at the house of Alexander Bryan and continuing 
west on the main road to the house of the widow Knickerbacker, (Henry 
Knickerbacker's. — I. H.) including the houses on the eastern districts and 
the cross roads. 

"No 8. — Beginning at the house of the widow Knickerbacker and run 
as far west as ths house of Jonathan Lewis, including the cross roads 
south as far as Isaac VanLu van's, and the other as far south as the corner 
of Snyder s farm by the brook.'" [Note — This district runs west from the 
present Henry Knickerbacker's to the "Booth House" west of Pine Plains 
village, where Jonathan Lewis then lived. But the road then was north 
of the village by the Thomas settlement, circling through North Avenue 
and from thence to the Booth House, then on near the present road to the 
"Stewart House" where James Young lived. The road through the vil- 
lage, called "Church Street" was laid out at a later date. The other, "the 
corner of Snyder's farm by the brook," I am not certain whether it is the 
Anthony H. Barton place or Mr. Duxbury. — I. H.] 

"No. 9. — Beginning at the Great Nine Partner line Sharon road run- 
ning by the house of Gideon Salisbury (Gideon Salisbury was successor to 
James Atwater at or near the Andrus Rowe corners. — I. H.) west to the 
house of Adam Snyder's including cross roads south to the Great Nine Part- 
ners and the north road to Isaac Van Louven's and the north road by Sny- 
der's to the brook at the corner of Snyder's fence by the brook. 

"No. 10. — Beginning at Adam Snyder's house and running westwardly 
to the Salisbury road with the road south and west to the Great Nine Part- 
ners including all the inhabitants upon the road except Philip Smith, Gab- 
riel Dusenberry and Samuel Crandle, and persons exercising business and 
their families." 

"No. 11. — Beginning at Jonathan Lewis' house and continues west to 
the Manor line on the other side of David Bostwick's including the inhabi- 
tants on the road with Philip Smith, Gabriel Dasenb^rry and Samuel 
Crandie and the persons excepted in No. 10. 



THE HIGHWAYS. S» 

"No. 12. — Begins at the manor line by the house of Tice Crissler and 
runs to the south, to the house of Hons. Felter Shaver. Tice Crissler and 
Hons. Felter Shaver belong to this district. 

"No. 13.— Continues from the house of Hons. Felter Shaver to the 
Rhinebeck line as the road runs. 

"No. 14. — Beginning at the house of Peter Knickerbacker and contin- 
ues south to Rhinebeck road. 

"No. M— Begins near Daniel Wilson's and so cross to the meeting 
bouse east of Capt. Collins. John Wilson and James Wilson to belong to 
this district. 

"No. 16. — Begins at the house of William Smyley and extends west- 
ward to a small (torn off) on the east side of the bridge near the school 
house. Jacob Cous, Peter Cous, Hugh Orr belong to this district. 

"No. 17. -(Torn off). 

"No. 18. — Beginning at the west end of No. 17 running westwardly to 
the Rhinebeck line, including the inhabitants on the road. 

"No. 19. — Begins at Rbinebeck road and so from Salisbury road to Cold 
Spring, including the inhabitants on the road except William Finkle. 

"No. 20. — Begins at Cold Spring road near Evan Deanes andrnnswest 
to the house of John Simmons, from thence along the mud bridge half 
across the same including a cross road beginning at the Great Nine Part- 
ners line and running into the same i - oad they were to work. 

"No. 21. — Begins half across the mud bridge and goes westward by 
George Martin's and from thence westward to the house of Richard Wilde, 
and so along the Rhinebeck line including a cross road from the house of 
the said Richard Wilde north, and ends near the mam road leading from 
the Cold Spring. 

"No. 22. — Begins at David Bostwiek's and runs southerly across the 
Rhinebeck road to the house of Hontice Cous, from thence to the house of 
Joseph Palmer, and from thence to the Great Nine Partner line. Except 
ing the following persons: James Hedding, Oliver Evans and Jas. — 
(torn off). 

' 'Nos. 33, 24 and 25 (torn off) 

"No. 26. — Begins at Jacob VanBremer's house, continues to Winchells 
Mills and from thence to Cornelius Delamater's with the road to Rhine 
beck, to be worked by Jacob VanBremer, Lemuel Winchell, George 
Head, Aaron Darling, Asa Bishop, James O'Brien. Robert North and John 
Smith. 



DO HISTORY OP PINK PLAINS. 

"The above is .a division of the North East Precinct into districts as 

made by us the subscribers, Justices of the Peace and Commissioners for 

the purpose according to the act of assembly. Dated this 29th day of 

March, 1776. 

LEWIS BRYAN, / n 

.JOHN COLLIN, ' [Commissioners, 

JAMES ATWATER, / T , . , . , D 

ELISHA COLVER. \ JustlGes of the Peace 

It is difficult, perhaps impossible, now to designate the precise locality 
of these districts on account of the changes since made in the roads and 
the death or removal of families. No perfect lists of pathmasters or high 
way assessments at this early date have been preserved. Some mutilated 
fragments of papers indicate re-divisions in the highway districts between 
1776 and 1790, but having no date are of little value except as giving the 
names of residents. In 1790 we have a quite complete re-division of dis- 
tricts which will appear further on. 

"Between 1784 and 1790 eleven changes, by alterations and new roads, 
were made in different parts of the Precinct by the Commissioners "on due 
application. ' One of these changes was the laying out of the east and 
west road through Pine Plains village, now called "Church Street." The 
following is a full and complete copy: 

"Be it remembered that on Due application made to us Commissioners 
of Highways for North East Precinct in Dutchess County, we did on the 
31st day of March in the year of our Lord 178,") agreeable to a law in that 
case made and provided lay out a Certain road four Rods wide beginning 
at the house of James Young, proceeding from thence Easterly as the road 
goes to the house of Ebenezer Dibblee and from thence with nearly a 
straight line along the North Side of the Mountain to a Bridge across the 
creek near the house of Philip Snyder's which road we ordered to be 
recorded, given under our hands. 

Signed, 

JOHN WHITE. i 

WILLIAM STEWART, -Commissioners. 

PHILIP SPENCER, \ 

"Entered and recorded the 6th, 1785." 

Ebenezer Dibblee lived at this time in the "Booth House" and Philip 
Snyder at Hammertown. In passing I notice the record of a change sub- 
sequently of the portion of this road between Pine Plains and Hammertown 
in 1815. "Beginning at a black oak sapling marked on the south and east 
sides with a blaze and three hacks standing on the north side of the road 
running easterly from the Pine Plains and about one chain eastward of the 
gate where the path leads to the house of the late Jonathan Landon, de- 
ceased. " This was where the present road starts that leads to the house of 
Robert Thomas. The survey from here to Hammertown was made by 
Jesse Thompson, October 1. 1815, "so as to avoid the steepness of the hill 



THE HIGHWAYS. 01 

on the road running easterly from Pine Plains to Joshua Culver's and Cor- 
nelius Husted's tan house." The survey was endorsed by the commission 
ers Silas Germond, Jim. , Henry W. Stewart and Martin E. Winchell. 

An appeal from the decision of the commissioners was taken by "Cor- 
nelius Husted on the part of himself and others" and the matter was sub- 
mitted to Anthony Wheeler, Leonard Barton and Fyler Dibblee, "judges of 
the court of common pleas, "who Nov. 27, 1815, reversed "the determination 
of the said commissioners." 

February 21, 1816, John 1. Hiserout, Theodore Hooker, Israel Reynolds, 
Joseph Mott, Jun., William Woodm, Stephen Eno. William Stevenson, 
Matthias Hoffman, Peter A. Pulver, Anthony Tripp, Henry I. Hiserout, 
and Joseph C. Hicks, twelve inhabitants and freeholders of the town of 
North East, made oath before Justice Henry I. Travel - that they "believed 
It proper and necessary to lay out a public road around the eminence or 
the steepest part of the hill." Upon this application the commisioners 
above named employed Jesse Thompson to make another survey for the 
change or alteration "beginning at a white oak bush marked on two sides 
with a blaze and three notches standing on the north side of said turnpike 
road, on the easterly side of the hill above mentioned, thence north 50 de- 
grees west 4 chains and 93 links, thence north 09 degrees west 3 chains and 
4 links, thence north 82 degrees west G chains and 43 links to a stake on 
the norjb side of the said turnpike road where the said road hereby laid 
joins the said turnpike road." This line was for the north sids of the road 
which was to be three rods wide. This appears to have settled the matter 
as to the road over the hill. 

March 7, 178S, the legislature passed "an act for dividing the counties 
of this state into towns," in which ''Northeast Town" is described as fol- 
lows : ' 'And all that part of the said county of Dutchess bounded westerly 
by Rhynbeck, northerly by the county of Columbia, easterly by Connecti- 
icut, and southerly by the towns of Washington and Amenia shall be and 
hereby is erected into a Town by the name of North East Town." Wash- 
ington at this date included the town of Stanford. The boundaries of 
North East Town, are nearly the same as North East Precinct, the change 
being only in name. 

All the towns in this county under this organization were Fred- 
ericks Town, South East Town, Fishkill, Beekman, Pawling, Poughkeep- 
sie, Clinton, Rhynbeck, Washington, Amenia and North East Town. 

A re-division of the highway districts in Northeast town was made 
March 17, 1790. The record of it is (mite complete and of interest in its 
names of persons and places. 

"No. 1. — Beginning at the north line of the Oblong, thence southerly 10 
the house of Nicholas Hoffman in which James Winchell now lives, includ 
ing a cross road to the Manor line. 



D2 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

"No. 2. — Beginning at the house of said Hoffman, thence southerly to 
the house of Joshua Hamlin, thence westerly to the house of Ehenezer 
Burtch. 

"No. 3. — Beginning at the house of the said Hamblin, thence southerly 
to the line of Amenia Town, including the Cross road to Salisbury line. 

"No. 4. — Beginning at the Manor line near the house of Jeremiah 
Brownell, thence southerly to the house of Uriah Lawrence, Esq., includ- 
ing Ancram Road to the Manor line and the road to the house of Ebenezer 
Burtch. 

"No. 5. — Beginning at Salisbury line, thence westerly to the line of 
the Little Nine Partners, including the cross road from the house of Martin 
Lawrence to Amenia Line and the cross road from the house of Capt. Hart- 
well to the road near the house of Mr. Simon Dakin. 

"No. 6. — Beginning at the east line of the Little Nine Partners, thence 
westerly to the meeting house on the mountain, thence northerly to the 
Manor of Livingston. 

"No. 7. — Beginning at the meeting house on the mountain, thence 
westerly to the small brook near the place where Darby Lindsey formerly 
lived, including the cross road by David Lawrence to Amenia Line. 

"No. 8. — Beginning at the said small brook, thence -westerly to the 
house of Jonas Meyers including the cross road by Nathaniel Tibbels to 
Amenia Line. 

"No. 9. — Beginning at Amenia Line south of Richard Gray's thence 
northerly to the house of Jonas Meyers, thence westerly to the house of 
John Knickerbacker including the cross road to the Manor line. 

"No 10.— Beginning at the house of John Knickerbacker, thence west- 
erly to the house of William Rector, then?e southerly to Sharon road to 
near George Sheldon's including the road by Isaac VanLuvan's (late Lewis 
Keefer farm) to the line of Amenia. 

"No. 11. — Beginning at the manor line near the house of Nicholas N. 
Stickle, thence southerly to the Salisbury road that goes to the plains, 
thence westerly to the house of Cornelius C. Elmendorph, (now "Stissing 
House." — I. H.) thence northerly to the Manor line. 

"No. 12. — Beginning at the line of Amenia near the house of Edmund 
Reynolds, thence westerly to the road Augustine Graham, including near 
the road by Hontice Smith, to the road near Stephen Cumming. [Note. — 
Edmund Reynolds lived on the present Isaac Carman farm, late George 
Smith. Augustine Graham lived on the late Benjamin Strever farm. 
At or near the present "Bethel," one road went southerly by Hontice 
Smith — now Phenix Deuell — to Dibble Hill same as now, and another 
road started near Bethel and ran westerly and southwesterly through the 
south part of the Charles Hoag farm, the north part of the Edward Hunt- 



THE HIGHWAYS. H 

ting farm, intersecting the Pokeepsie road at the forks north of the Nancy 
Smith— now Streever— dwelling, where then lived Stephen Gumming. 
The road over the hill by the late Edward Huntting's was laid out March 
25, 1805.— I. H.] 

"No. 13. — Beginning at the line of Washington south of Stephen dim- 
ming, thence northerly to the house of Capt. Cornelius C. Elmendorph. 
(Elmendorph then kept tavern at the present Stissing House site. Wash- 
ington at this time included the town of .Stanford. Stanford was taken 
from Washington in 1793.) 

"No. 14. — Beginning at the house of said Elmendorph, thence westerly 
to where the roads part to Red Hook and Rhinebeck. 

"No. 15, — Beginning at where the said roads part, westerly to the 
Manor line west of Martin Hoffman (Mountross). 

"No. 16. — Beginning at the Manor line east of the widow Knicker- 
backer's, thence westerly to the main road to the house of Frederick 
Pesster. 

"No. IT. — Beginning at the main road near the house of Godfrey Gray, 
thence southerly to the main road near the house of widow Stewart. 

"No, 18. — Beginning at the main road near the house of the widow 
Knickerbacker, thence southerly to the main road near the house of John 
Lemming. 

"No. 19. — Beginning at the house of Frederick Pesster, thence westerly 
to the main road to the line of Rhinebeck. 

"No. 20. — Beginning where the road parts to Red Hook and Rhinebeck 
east of John Ham's, thence westerly on the main road to the west side of 
the bridge near the house of Josiah F. Dean. 

"No. 21. — Beginning at the west side of said bridge, thence westerly 
on the main road to the meeting house near the widow Lake's. 

"No. 22. — Beginning at said meeting house, westerly on the main road 
to the house of Capt. James Stewart. 

"No. 23. — Beginning at the house of said Stewart, westerly on the 
main road to the line of Rhinebeck. 

"No. 24. — Beginning at the road near the house of John Traver, thence 
northerly on the cross road to the main road near the house of Abel Pat 
ridge. 

"No. 25. — Beginning at the main road near the house of John Philip, 
thence northerly to the Manor line and the road west by the house of Ryer 
Lawrence to Rhinebeck line. 

"No. 2G. — Beginning at the main road west of James Stewart, thenee 
southerly to the house where Richard Wilde (Ephraim Herrick) formerly 
lived, from thence westerly about half a mile from the house of Peter Ter 
Bush to the new road. 



94 HISTOKY OF PINE PLAINS 

'No. 2}. — Beginning at the house of said Herrick, thence easterly to 
the cross road that goes hy the house of Isaac Sherwood. 

"No. 28. — Beginning at the said cross road, easterly to the house of 
Benjamin Conger. 

"No. 29. — Beginning at the main road near the house of John McDoal, 
thence southerly to the road near the house of Isaac Sherwood. 

"No. 30. — Beginning at the road near the house where Richard Wilde 
formerly lived, thence westerly to the line of Rhinebeck. 

"No. 31. — Beginning at the main road at the house of Simon T. Myers, 
thence easterly to the house of Joseph Mott. 

"No. 32. — Beginning at the house of the said Mott, thence easterly to 
Washington line near the house of Mr. Wallbridge. 

"No. 33. — Beginning at the main road near James Turner's, thence 
southerly to the main road from Cold Spring to Rhinebeck. 

"No. 31. — Beginning where the roads part near Jacob ('mis', thence 
southerly to where the roads part near Edward AVheeler's 

"No. 35. — Beginning at the main road near the widow Bostwiek's, 
thence southerly to the orchard of John Wirehouse, near the house of the 
said Wirehouse. 

"No. 36. — Beginning at the said orchard, thence southerly to the line 
of Washington. 

"No. 37. — Beginning at the main road near to John Ham, thence 
southerly to the road that goes from the Widow Bostwiek's to Washington 
near where Isaac Winans now lives. 

"Witness our hands. 

JOSIAH HOLLY, < 

JACOB COUS, '-Commissioners." 

JOSIAH DEAN. ) 

March 20, 1792, Cornelius ('. Elmendorph and James Stewart, then 
commissioners, added : 

"No. 38. — Beginning at the house of John White on the Cold Spring 
road and along south by Samuel Wightman's to the line of the town of 
Washington," and March 24, of the same year, 

"No. 39. — Beginning about a quarter of a mile from Dr. Bartlett's 
house west and so north by G. Martin's mill, and so through the neighbor- 
hood of Story, Green's, Bullock's, Hicks', &c, till where it intercepts the 
north and south road £ mile north of Caleb Norton's." 

This completes the list of road districts made in 1790 for Northeast 
Town, including the districts Nos. 38 and 39, which were made in March, 
1792. Changes and additional roads were made subsequently, as conven- 
ience demanded, which at various periods required new subdivisions in 



96 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

their embodiment into districts. These, however, add but little to the road 
topography of the town. In the locality of Pine Plains, besides the roads 
already noticed a road from Nicholas Stickle, who lived north of Mr. John 
Righter's, was laid March 29, 1791, "on the line between William Snyder 
and William Righter nearly south" to the Salisbury road at the house of 
Mr. Righter, and from thence "to the mill of John Harris, * * * and 
to come in the road as it now leads a few rods east of William Snyder's 
barn (now A. H. Barton) and from thence as the road goes to the mill, from 
thence along the creek to the line between John Harris and Hendrick Sny- 
der, and along said line a few rods to the rise of a hill and so along said 
hill south to pass through between the house of John Harris and his 
shop, from thence nearly west along the north side of Harris' orchard, and 
on a southwest course to where it intercepts the Sharon road opposite a 
large low rock, with a marked tree, thus H.. in front " 

In March, 1793, the town wcs redistricted, making, by subdivisions of 
the districts of 1790, forty-one districts, 

March 21, 1797, the legislature passed "an act to regulate highways" 
which was published in a pamphlet of twenty-one pages, and a copy sent 
to the towns in each county. Its title on the fly leaf reads: "The Road 
Act passed into a law at Albany, March 21, 1797, at the second meeting of 
the twentieth session of the Legislature of the State of New York. " Among 
other things it required the commissioners to file with the town clerk a 
list of the highway districts. In response to this the commissioners say 
"this town is already divided into districts to our satisfaction," and the 
commissioners, Philip Knickerbacker, Philo Winched and James Stewart, 
March 27, 1798, placed the list made in 1793 — whch is nearly the same as 
that of 1790 — in the hands of Cornelius Van Ranst, the town clerk, "re- 
questing him to make record in the office of the districts as is already on 
minutes with him." 

Seven days after the passage of this highway act, Jacob Bockee, father 
of Abraham Bockee, was appointed Superintendent of Highways by the 
state officials in this dignified manner. 

"The People of the State of New York, by the Grace of God, Free and 
Independent. To all to whom these Presents shall come. Greeting : 

' ' Know ye, that we reposing especial Trust and Confidence in the 
Frudence, Integrity and Ability of Jacob Bockee, Esquire, Have (in pursu- 
ance of an Act entitled 'An Act to regulate Highways,' passed 21st of 
March, 1797) nominated, constituted and appointed, and by these Presents 
Do nominate, constitute and Appoint him, the said Jacob Bockee, all and 
singular, the Powers, Jurisdiction and Authorities to the said office of 
Superintendent, as aforesaid, by the said Act belonging or in any wise 
appertaining : To have mid to hold, exercise and enjoy the same unto him, 
the said Jacob Bockee, together with all and singular the advantages 
thereunto belonging, for and during our good pleasure, to be signified by 
our Council of Appointment. 



THE HIGHWAYS. 97 

"In Testimony whereof, We have caused these our Letters to be made 
Patent, and the Great Seal of our said State to be hereunto affixed. 
Witness our trusty and well beloved John Jay, Esquire, Governor of our 
said State, General and Commander in Chief of all the Militia, and 
Admiral of the Navy of the same, by and with the Advice and Consent of 
our said Council of Appointment, at our City of Albany, the twenty-eighth 
day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and 
ninety seven, and in the twenty-first year of our Independence. 

JOHN JAY." 

The seal attached is circular, three and a-half inches in diameter, 
about a quarter of an inch thick, and attached to the commission by a 
ribbon in the official manner of such State papers. This was the dignity 
of office in those days. 

Very little change has been made in the road law since this act. As 
population and settlements increased the districts have been shortened or 
made less, which changes have been principally made since the new town- 
ship organizations. 

In 1788, the year North East Precinct became Northeast Town, there 
were thirty-two highway districts ; in 1791, 39 ; 1798, 42 ; in 1800, 39 ; in 
1801, 40 ; in 1806, 42 ; in 1810, 45 ; in 1817, 49. In 1818 Milan was taken 
from North East, and became a town. North East (still including Pine 
Plains) this year had 26 highway districts, in 1820, 27, and in 1822 the 
same number. In 1823 Pine Plains became a town, and by its boundaries 
under this organization the highway districts from one to six inclusive, 
fell to the present town of North East. Pine Plains commenced number- 
ing the highway districts with "No. 7," and continued this method until 
1827, when Asa Knapp, Andrus Hiserodt and Frederick T. Ham, the com- 
missioners, met at the public house of Andrus N. Pulver, March 20, 1827, 
and by resolution changed No. 7 to No. 1. In 1823, the first year of Pine 
Plains, the districts were from No. 7 to No. 27, making 21 districts. In 
1827 the same, in 1835, 25 ; and in 1856 there were 30. 

Robert Livingston and his successors had an eye to the improvement 
of their Manor lands, and availed themselves of every opportunity that 
chance or design presented. The site now called Ancram was selected in 
an early day for a central inland village of their domain. Its location was 
on the Roloef Jansen, and far enough from Takhannick to escape the 
marauds and invasions of the Massachusetts vandals, as Livingston deemed 
them, in the Westenhook patents of Sheffield and the "Ausatanog" 
Valley. At Ancram was a furnace, which in its train of necessities 
involved a variety of business enterprises, and it thereby became a place 
of much repute. The ore to supply the furnace was hauled principally 
from the ore beds near "Spencer's Corners" in North East, and for the 
improvement of the road for this purpose April 1, 1800, an act-was passed 
by the legislature of New York, entitled, " An act to establish a Turnpike 



98 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Corporation for improving and making a road from the Town of Salisbury, 
in the State of Connecticut, to Wattles' Ferry on the Susquehannah 
River." 

One object for including that portion of this road west of the Hudson, 
was to secure and make available a former appropriation. In March 1797, 
the legislature passed "An act for opening and improving certain great 
roads within this state, "and by its provision forty-five thousand dollars were 
to be raised "by three successive lotteries of equal value" for this purpose. 
John Taylor, Leonard Ganesvort and Daniel Hale were made managers, 
and in 1798 it was amended, making Isaac Stoutenburgh, Abraham Her- 
ring and Philip TenEyck, all of New York, additional managers. The 
amendments further provided for a more perfect system for the sale of 
tickets, and the disbursement of the funds. The amount was raised pro- 
portionately in one, two and three years, and payments made in the same 
manner by the managers to the roads specified in the act, In March, 1801 
— the next year after the act creating the Susquehannah-Ancram Turnpike 
— the legislature passed "an act for improving the road from Wattles' 
Ferry on the Susquehannah to the town of Kingston in the county of 
Ulster, "and directed the managers of this lottery fund to apply two thous- 
sand dollars upon this road. March 30, 1802, John Taylor, Leonard Ganes- 
voort and Daniel Hale, the three managers created in the original lottery 
act, report their expenditure of the $45,000 fund, and among the payments 
• 'from the proceeds of the third lottery" is one mentioned as being made 
"to the treasurer of this state, the sum appropriated to the commissioners 
for improving the roads from Wattles' Ferry on the Susquehannah to King- 
ston in the county of Ulster — $2,000." This much about the lottery fund. 

It may seem a little queer that the Livingstons should have merged 
the turnpike interest west of the Hudson with theirs on the east side. At 
that time the travel from the adjoining New England to northern Pennsyl- 
vania and New Jersey and even on to Washington, passed over or near 
this route, crossing the Hudson at either Esopus or Kingston and Catskill, 
and thence southerly in the valleys west of the Highlands, to the head 
waters of the Deleware and Susquehannah. This enlarged their plan and 
brought additional power to bear Upon the legislature in their behalf, 
which enabled them to be successful in passing the act. The main object, 
however, so far as the Livingstons were concerned, was the development 
of Ancram village and its surrounding territory, and the greatest aid to 
this end was a good road from the Salisbury ore beds to the Ancram fur- 
nace. Hence work was commenced and prosecuted with vigor on the 
route between these points by way of "Hot Ground" and an east and west 
thoroughfare established, passing through Ancram northerly to "Fife Mil- 
ler's," thence westerly to the warehouse of John Livingston on the Hud- 
son, and thence to the Susquehannah. The pike commenced near "Alex- 
ander Spencer's," in North East, thence northwesterly over the mountain. 



THE highways. 99 

This part of the road is now but little traveled. The pike was built in 1804 
and 1805, and for several years it was a busy thoroughfare. In 1803 Henry 
Hoffman and Aaron E. Winchell started a store on the line of this pike at 
the "George Barton farm," a short distance south of the "Hot Ground" — 
now Ancram Lead Mines— and continued the business at that stand a few 
years. Henry Hoffman was a stockholder in the pike according to the fol- 
lowing certificate: "I certify that Henry Hoffman or his assigns is 
entitled to thirty shares at twenty dollars each in the Ancram Turnpike 
Roade as appears from the transfer book of the said company. Living- 
ston, March 7, 1805. Jno. VanDusen, treasurer." Another certificate of 
the same date gives him five shares. A'ugust 8, 1804, he signed a contract 
with Isaac Williams, "agent for the president and directors of the Susque- 
hannah Turnpike Company," for the right of way through his farm, (the 
George Barton farm.) 

Meanwhile the little settlement on "the pine plains," was developing a 
business center of merchants, mechanics and hotels, sustained by settlers 
between Winchell Mountain on the east and Stissing Mountain on the 
west, the Manor on the north and the Federal Square on the south. To this 
growing village, and to these settlers, the Ancram turnpike was detrimental 
now, and deemed to be more so in the future. It turned the trade and 
travel between Salisbury and the Hudson River around it by way of An- 
cram. Hence arose rivalry, resulting in a more direct route from the 
Hudson to Salisbury, and making Rhinebeck the terminal point on the 
Hudson. 

The legislative origin of the Rhinebeck and Salisbury Turnpike is in an 
act passed April2, 1802, entitled, "An act to establish a Turnpike corporation 
for improving and making a road from the west line of the town of Salisbury 
in the state of Connecticut to the Susquehannah River, at or near the town 
of Jerico." This is called and known as the "Ulster and Deleware Turn- 
pike." The members of Assembly from Dutchess County at this session 
were Theodore Bailey, Johh M. Thurston, John Thompson, Alexander 
Spencer, Elisha Barlow, Harry Garrison, Nicholas H. Emigh, Benjamin 
Akin, John Patterson and Abraham Adriance. The members of the Sen- 
ate from this county were Isaac Bloom and David VanNess. 

[Note— Alexander Spencer died in March during this session. It was 
the twenty-fifth session, and commenced January 26, 1802. Thursday, 
March 18, the assembly paid this tribute to Mr. Spencer: "It having been 
announced that Alexander Spencer, Esquire, late a member of this house 
from the county of Dutchess, hath departed this life and that his funeral 
will be on Saturday next at four o'clock p. m. ; Therefore as a testimonial 
of the esteem in which his character and worth were held, and as a mani- 
festation of the deep sensibility felt on this melancholy occasion, 

Resolved unanimously, That this house with their speaker and attend- 
ant officers will attend the funeral of the said Alexander Spencer, Esq. , 
deceased, and that it be recommended to the members of this house to wear 
crape on the left arm during the remainder of the present session." The 



100 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

speaker. Mr. Thomas Storm, of New York city, in his address at the close 
of the session, said: "We have to lament, gentlemen, that since we came 
together, one of our fellow members has been removed from us by death, 
but we hope has been removed to a better assembly. " In the Po'keepsie 
Journal of January 14, 1818, is the following notice of the death of. his 
widow : ' 'Died, at Colebrook, Conn. , on Monday, the 5th inst. , Mrs. Olive 
See, wife of the Rev. Chauncey See, and widow of the late Alexander Spen- 
cer, Esq., of this county."] 

The first action in reference to this turnpike at that session was Mon- 
day, February 1, 1802. The Journal under that date says: "A petition of 
John Tappen and others inhabitants of the county of Ulster, a petition of 
William Townsend and others inhabitants of the county of Deleware, a 
petition of Robert Cooper and others inhabitants of the county of Dutchess, 
a petition of Abraham Hoffman and others, and a petition of Ezra Bene- 
dict and others inhabitants of Walton and Delhi, severally praying for a 
law establishing a turnpike Company for improving the road from the town 
of Salisbury in the state of Connecticut, through the towns of Rhinebeck, 
Kingston and Walton to the Susquehannah river, and a remonstrance of 
Andries DeWitt and others against the granting the prayer of such peti- 
tions, were severally read and referred to Mr. Adriance, Mr. Hasbrouck 
and Mr. North." The chairman of this committee, Mr. Adriance, was 
from Dutchess. Mr. Hasbrouck was from Ulster, and Mr. North was 
from Deleware. The other member from Deleware — only two this year — 
was Erastus Root. 

The next day, Feb. 2, 1802, other petitions were presented. 'A peti- 
tion of Luther Holly and others praying that the legislature will pass a 
law incorporating a turnpike company for improving the road from Salis- 
bury in Connecticut, through Rhinebeck in the county of Dutchess, to the 
ferry of John Radcliff and Moses Cantine, through Kingston to Dele- 
ware, were severally read and referred to Mr. Adriance, Mr. Hasbrouck 
and Mi - . North." Monday, February 8, "several remonstrances against the 
granting the petitions of the inhabitants of Dutchess and Ulster praying 
for the establishment of a turnpike corporation" as above, were read and 
referred to the same committee. Thursday, Feb. 11, Mr. Adriance report- 
ed, "that the committee had directed him to report that the advantages 
arising by opening a turnpike road from the house of Alexander Spencer 
in the town of Northeast in the County of Dutchess through the town of 
Rhinebeck to the ferry of John Radcliff and Moses Cantine, through 
Kingston to the town of Jerico on the Susquehannah river, will accommo- 
date the traveler with a shorter and more direct road than any now in use, 
and in the opinion of the committee worthy of the consideration of the 
legislature. The committee are therefore of opinion that the prayer of the 
petitioners ought to be granted, and that leave should be given them to 
bring in a bill for that purpose. 

"Ordered, That leave be given accordingly. 



THE HIGHWAYS. 101 

"Mr. North pursuant to leave brought in the said bill entitled: "An 
act to establish a turnpike corporation for improving and making a road 
from the west line of the town of Salisbury, in the state of Connecticut, to 
the Susquehannah river, at or near the town of Jerico, which was read 
the first time and ordered a second reading." 

There was a lively contest in the legislature in regard to the Ancram 
turnpike, and its rival, the Rhinebeck and Salisbury turnpike, for two or 
three sessions, and resulted in the establishment of a charter for each 
road. 

David VanNess and William Cockbum were the commissioners to lay 
«>ut the road from Rhinebeck to Salisbury, and Martin Winchell and Philo 
Winchell built sixteen miles of the road, commencing at the Connecticut 
line and going west. For this work it is said that they never received any 
compensation. 

The pike, after all the outlay, was not self-sustaining east of the Hud 
son, and in 1816 that portion in Rhinebeck was districted by the town 
authorities and in 1817 it was voted at the annual town meeting in North 
East Town that the turnpike be districted and worked. North East then 
bounded Rhinebeck on the line of the pike, and thus all this turnpike east 
of the Hudson became a districted highway. 

PINE PLAINS AND GALLATIN TURNPIKE. 

In the legislature of 1807-8 a petition was read in the Assembly March 
7, 1808, for a turnpike from Pine Plains to the house of Anthony Drum on 
the Susquehannah or Ancram turnpike. The act for this purpose was 
passed April 11th at this session. Fyler Dibblee, Stephen Eno, Henry Hoff- 
man and Isaac B Smith and others were associated in this enterprise. 
The pike was to commence at the now Stissing House, to run to the house of 
Jonathan Dings Junior, (Silvernails) and thence to Anthony Drum's. The 
pike was never made or worked as such north of Hoffman's Mill, about one 
mile north of Pine Plains, and thus makes a greater show in the session 
laws on paper than on land between the objective points, Pine Plains and 
Gallatin. It gave Pine Plains, however, one mile of good road, a matter 
of convenience as well as pleasure which is now appreciated. 




z J 






CHAPTER VIII. 
MILAN ORGANIZED. 

At a meeting of the voters of the west part of North East held in De- 
cember, 1817, Peter Snyder, Jacob Shook, John F. Bartlett and Henry W. 
Stewart were appointed a committee to give public notice that a petition 
for a division of the town of North East would be sent to the legislature at 
its next sitting at Albany. This was the first move for creating the town 
of Milan. The notice specified the bounds commencing at the north east 
(•diner of Lot 46, adjoining the county of Columbia, thence along the said 
division line between Henry Beekman and George Clark to lot No. 28 of 
James Alexander, thence across "Teesink Mountain" through lots No. 28 
and No. 10 to the town of Stanford, and thence on the line of North East 
west, north and east to the place of beginning. They were successful in 
their petition for a division, but the boundaries were changed. March 6, 
1818, the act was passed. Smith's and Mason's history of Dutchess County 
each say March 10, but a copy of the session laws before me says "Passed 
March 0, 1818." The bounds commencing on the line between Dutchess 
and Columbia counties where the eastern bounds of the farm of Josiah 
Hedges intersects the same, thence in a straight fine to the north east cor- 
ner of the dwelling house of Jacob Best, Jun., — the house to be in Milan — 
thence due south to the Stanford line, and then around to the place of be- 
ginning. By the act, the first town meeting was to be held on the first 
Tuesday in April at the house of Stephen Thorne, and the next town meet- 
ing for North East was to be held at the house of Israel Reynolds. At these 
town meetings Milan elected Stephen Thorne, Supervisor; John F. Bart 
lett, Clerk ; and North East elected Fyler Dibblee. Supervisor, and Aaron 
E. Winchell. clerk. 

The act made provision for the division of the poor fund, which was 
to be done by the supervisor and overseers of the poor of each town after 
the spring election in 1818, according to the last tax list of North East. At 
the spring election of North East in 1817 it was voted to raise $850, for the 
overseer of the poor. Stephen Thorne, supervisor, and Jeptha Wilbur, 
overseer in Milan, and Isaac Sherwood and Asa Knapp, overseers in North 
East, met April 16, 1818, and divided the poor. North East took ten persons, 
Milan twelve, and three were left to be supported by both towns jointly in 
proportion to the last tax list, North East to pay at the ratio of seven to 
five. Each town then provided for its own poor for that year and nothing 
was done with the poor fund until March 27, the next year — the officers of 



104 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

both towns for 1818 still in office — when a general settlement was made. 
The statement was prepared and recorded by Aaron E. Winchell, town 
clerk, a few days before his term expired. The half cent is reckoned. This 
is the way he states the condition of the poor fund: "The present debts of 
the original town of North East exceeds the funds of s'd town $177. 41^, 
leaving that balance to be provided for. Of the s'd sum $103. 49| remains 
to be raised for the now town of North East, and $72. 92J by the town of 
Milan.'' This was a full settlement, except a few legal claims of small 
amounts by North East against persons and towns, which were arranged 
verbally. The full board were present, to wit : Fyler Dibblee and Stephen 
Thome, respective supervisors of North East and Milan. Isaac Sherwood 
and Asa Knapp, overseers of North East, Jeptha Wilbur and Jacob Shook, 
overseers of Milan. 

The poor was the principal matter in common to the two towns to be 
settled. North East this spring raised $550 poor fund, $300 less than the 
old town last year. In the matter of roads a good deal was called for and 
done. The division of the town seems to have been anticipated for two years 
or more, and highway work meanwhile came to a comparative standstill. 
June 27, 1818, a contract was made between the commissioners of North 
East and Eseck Wilbur to ' 'Build a New, Good, Strong and Substantial 
Bridge across the stream of water at or near his mills known by the name 
of the Mount Boss Bridge. " The posts were to be "letdown six inches in the 
solid rock," the roadway to be covered with fourteen feet plank two and a 
quarter inches thick, the sides to be boarded up tight and all finished by 
the first of December. Frice $189, to be paid Feb. 15, 1819. May 1st fol- 
lowing, Mr. Wilbur gave his receipt for$195, in full for the bridge. Thecom- 
missioners were Isaac Sherwood, Joshua Culver and Martin E. Winchell. 
(Samuel Church was elected commissioner, but Isaac Sherwood served in 
his place. ) June 15 — same year — the same commissioners made a contract 
with Henry Hoffman to build a new bridge at Hoffman's mill of the same 
width, and in other respects similar to the Mount Ross Bridge, Price$185, 
payable March 1, 1819. 

At the spring election of Old North East in 1817 it was voted to dis 
trict the Ulster and Salisbury Turnpike. This brought a new arrangement 
of the road districts in number and corresponding territory. Accordingly 
North East (Milan out) in the spring of 1818 had twenty-six road districts, 
the overseers being elected at the spring election. The number of districts 
in the old town was 49 

In school districts the changes are too frequent and too indefinite to 
follow out. In 1819 there were in New North East eleven full districts and 
four fractional districts, imparting instruction to 456 children between 
the ages of five and fifteen. The amount of the school fund for this year 



MILAN ORGANIZED. 10-"» 

was $244.25, half of which was received from the county treasurer. The 
principal school books were "Webster's spelling book, Dayboll's arithmetic, 
Murray's grammar and Murray 's English reader and Flint's surveying as 
a special. 

Justices of the peace were appointed, not elected as now. To this of- 
fice for new North East in July, 1818, the appointments were Enos Hop- 
kins, Israel Harris, Henry I. Traver and Martin E. Winched. Fyler 
Dibblee was appointed Judge, hence "Judge Dibblee," as he was called. 
The military appointments for the town at the same time were Israel Har- 
ris, Colonel, and John H. Conklin, Captain, in the 20th regiment of in- 
fantry, and William VanMstyne, Captain in the 4th regiment of artillery. 

And now, having given Milan a historical body, I leave her with her 
hills west of Stissing, where she has already numbered over three score 
years and ten, and her sturdy "back bone" — given her in a geological 
quarrel — will keep her in a good state of preservation for a thousand years 
to come without show of decay. She served to equalize the civil power of 
the Precinct — according to its geographical territory — as against the east- 
ern and more populous part. In this way Stissing valley became the 
central fulcrum for the see-saw at the ends of the precinct. Neither could 
get advantage. Pine Plains was the umpire practically, yet without choice by 
either side, and in this way her power and influence increased. Her time 
had not yet come, but it was near. 




1_ Oi 



CHAPTER IX. 

TO REVISE THE CONSTITUTION. 

The next stirring event for "New North East" was the amendment to 
the state constitution, but before the legislature took definite action thereto 
meetings expressing "the voice of the people" were held throughout the 
state. The resolutions at these meetings have in them what many in these 
days proudly call "a democratic ring," but — "what's in a name?" — then it 
was called "republican" ring. Only a little over a presidential term had 
passed since the end of the war of 1812, and the people were sensitive to 
any infringement — real or fancied — upon their own way of doing things. 

Saturday, December 30, 1820, the citizens of "New North East" met at 
tlie house of Benjamin R. Bostwick "to express their sentiments on the 
propriety of calling a convention for the purpose of making alterations in 
the constitution of the state." Martin Lawrence, Esq., was chairman. 
Philo M. Winchell, secretary. Fyler Dibblee, Martin E. Winchell, Enos 
Hopkins, Henry Hoffman and Henry I. Travel' were appointed a commit- 
tee on resolutions. 

"Resolved, That it is expedient to call a convention to revise and 
amend the constitution of this state. 

' 'Resolved, That we highly approve of the late acts of our legislature rec- 
ommending a convention, that it is purely republican in its provisions, and 
well calculated to accomplish the ends contemplated by the people. 

Fyler Dibblee, William T. Jacocks and Philo M. Winchell were chosen 
delegates to the county convention to be held January 13, 1821, at the house 
of William Germond, Washington Hollow, 

[Note — The time for this county convention had been suggested by 
the town of Dover, about two weeks before.] 

The town of Stanford held a meeting January 1, 1821, at the house of 
David Elsbre, to express "the voice of the people." Doctor Leonard Bar- 
ton was chairman and Abner Wilcox, Jun., secretary. Isaac Sherrill, 
Leonard Thompson, Josiah Sutherland, Abner Wilcox, Jun., and Allen 
Thompson were committee on resolutions. 

■'Resolved, That the people of the state are sovereign, and that accord- 
ingly any exei'cised power that emanates not from this source is usurped, 
dangerous and threatening to the liberties of the people. 

"Resolved, That notwithstanding our high veneration and respect for 
the wisdom and integrity of theframersof the constitution of our state, yet 
after nearly forty-three years' experience .we are convinced that it is radL 
cally defective in many important particulars, deeply affecting the morals 
and interests of the good people of this state. 



108 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

'•Resolved, That the exercise of the elective franchise is one of the 
most essential privileges of freemen, and that in proportion to its restrict- 
ion are facilities offered for usurpation to unchastened ambition, that an 
extension of the elective franchise to every freeman is loudly called for by 
the spirit of our free institutions. 

"Resolved, That we are decidedly in favor of having an unrestricted 
convention to amend the constitution of this state, and that in our opinion 
the wishes of the people in this respect have long since been manifested in 
their public meetings. 

"Resolved, That the members of the legislature who promptly advo- 
cated the call of a convention pursuant to the recommendation of the gov- 
ernor in his two last speeches are entitled to our most cordial thanks, and 
have given most satisfactory proof that they are not regardless of the 
wishes of their constituents. 

' 'Resolved, That we are not surprised at the conduct of his excellency, 
the governor, in rejecting the bill calling a convention by his casting vote 
in the Council of Revision after having twice recommended the same, as 
we deem it perfectly consistent with his whole conduct during his admin- 
istration, but we feel highly indignant at his contempt of the wishes of the 
people. 

' 'Resolved, That the decided stand taken by Judges Yates and Wood- 
worth in the Council of Revision in support of the bill calling a convention 
have proved themselves to be the friends of liberty and equal rights, and 
that they merit and receive our best thanks. 

"Resolved, That we regret to see men of such high legal attainments 
as Chief Justice Spencer and Chancellor Kent, descending from the sta- 
tions they hold to become subservient to the wishes of unchastened ambi- 
tion, and although as citizens they have an undoubted right to political 
opinions, yet we think it degrading to their professions and not in accord- 
ance with the dignity they should maintain to become political partisans 
and enlist their warmest feelings in political squabbles. 

' 'Resolved, That the rejection — by a majority of the Council of Revis- 
ion — of the bill which passed both houses of the legislature making provis 
ion for the call of a convention, is totally unwarranted, and that this dan- 
gerous exercise of power not delegated, is further proof of the necessity of 
having amendments to the constitution. 

• 'Resolved, That we earnestly entreat the members of our legislature 
as they regard the union of the people to pass the bill calling a convention, 
notwithstanding the objection of a majority of the. Council .of Revision, 
and we hope a constitutional majority in the legislature will have firmness 
enough to thwart the political views of the few, and favor the wishes and 
best interests of the people. 

"Unsolved, That we will have an eye upon the governor at the next 
election and with his removal from office we shall again witness the tri 
umphant ascendancy of correct republican principles." 



THE CONSTITUTION REVISED. 109 

Isaac Sherrill, Allen Thompson, Josiah Sutherland and Abner Wilcox 
were appointed delegates to the county convention to be held on the thir- 
teenth instant. The "ring" in these resolutions has no uncertain sound 
and what we might look for from the Sutherlands and Thompsons of that 
day in Stanford. 

"The voice of the people" of Amenia was heard on Thursday, Decem- 
ber 28, 1820, at the house of Thomas Payne. Thomas Barlow, Esq., was 
chairman and Sturges Sanford, secretary. Jesse Barlow, Anthony Whee- 
ler, Barnabas Payne. Jr. , William Bay lis and David Nye were committee 
on resolutions. 

"Resolved, That all men are born free and equal, any distinction there- 
fore between the rights of the citizens of the same state is inconsistent with 
the fundamental policy of a free government. 

' 'Resolved, That we highly esteem the system and general principle of 
the constitution of this state, but however perfect it was considered at the 
time of its adoption, time and experience have convinced us that it is sus- 
ceptible of improvement, especially as it regards the invaluable right of 
suffrage and the mode of appointing the officers of the state, and to these 
two points we should be willing to limit the amendments. But viewing 
the great difficulty in ascertaining the sense of so large a population as is 
contained in this state, we are willing to submit the amendment to the 
wisdom and integrity of a convention without restriction, and we express 
it as our opinion that the legislature ought to make provision at their next 
session for calling a convention for the purpose of making such amend 
ments without restriction, as soon as may be consistent. 

"Resolved, That we view the conduct of DeWitt Clinton, our present 
governor, in first recommending a convention to alter the constitution 
with unrestricted powers, and afterwards in the Council of Revision by 
his casting vote rejecting the bill for calling a convention, as totally in- 
consistent with a great and magnanimous mind." 

David Nye, Anthony Wheeler and William Baylis were chosen dele 
gates to the county convention. 

These township resolutions as a whole give the status of public opinion 
in regard to Governor DeWitt Clinton and the state constitution in north . 
eastern Dutchess in 1820. 

March 13, 1821, the legislature of that year passed an.act recommending 
a convention which was to be determined by vote in the following April 
whether a convention should be called in pursuance of said act. The vote 
on this in North East commenced on the last Tuesday in April and contin- 
ued — at three places — three days. The result was 253 "Convention ;"20 "No 
Convention." A convention was voted for by the state, at which amend- 
ments were made to the constitution, and the amended constitution was 



110 



HISTORY OF PINK PLAINS. 



submitted to the people. The election for this commenced in North East 
January 15, 1822, at the house of Curtis J. Hurd, the 16th at the house of 
Jeremiah Conklin, the 17th at the house of Israel Reynolds. The result 
was 224 "Yes;" 7 "No." Stanford's vote was 158 "Yes;"76 "No." Amenia, 
190 "Yes;" 101 "No." 

The election for county delegates to attend the State convention at 
Albany to revise the constitution was held in North East in June, 1821. 
Elisha Barlow received 275 votes; Peter R. Livingston, 274; James Tal 
madge, Jun., 279; Abraham W. Schenck, 277; Isaac Huntting, 280. 




CHAPTER X. 
PINE PLAINS ORGANIZED. 

It was reasonable and right that Milan should be set off from North 
East town. Stissing Mountain was a barrier to any communication east 
by highways and therefore it needed no civil engineer to determine the 
boundary line between the new town and her parent. It had been fixed 
by creation long before civil engineers were heard of or needed. Winched 
Mountain, on the eastern bounds of Stissing Valley, was a similar barrier 
to communication with the valley in the eastern bounds of the old Pre- 
cinct. It was therefore geographically natural, and absolutely necessary 
for the barter and inter-commerce of its settlers — as it was then conducted 
— that three divisions should be made of North East Precinct: east, west 
and middle. One had been made and the time had come to make the sec- 
ond and final one. 

At this time the little village at Pine Plains ruled the town. The bus- 
iness men had heads— whatever their size — of hard brain and plenty of it, 
and were widely known for their enterprise and push. The settlement 
east of Winched Mountain having lost its civil power in the town, favored 
the division, hoping thereby to annex the north part of Amenia, and make 
a new town east of Winched Mountain. This plan of division was talked 
of two or three years before it was accomplished. 

March 19, 1821, Enos Hopkins, Wakeman Bradley, jSathan Parish, 
Curtis J. Hurd, Lucius Hotchkiss, William Parks and John Buttolph gave 
notice that they would apply to the legislature "at their next session" for a 
division including a part of Amenia, The bounds in the notice are sub- 
stantially the present bounds of North East. The 'next session" — 1822 — ■ 
passed, and no division made. December 12, 1822, a petition signed by in- 
habitants in the north part of Amenia and east part of North East was pre- 
pared, describing the bounds of the new town — same as now — and setting 
forth the advantage and convenience of having the new town. The peti- 
tioners ' 'represent that they are so remotely situated from the center of 
their several towns as to render it extremely inconvenient and burden- 
some for them to attend their annual or other town meetings; or to 
transact any other town business that requires their personal attend- 
ance at the center, insomuch that many of them have for a series of years 
past wholly neglected to attend all Town Meetings, and consider them- 
selves debarred of almost every town privilege except that of paying- 
taxes, which they have promptly and cheerfully done for a long suc- 
cession of years. * * And your petitioners would further represent 



112 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

that the greatest proportion of the inhabitants in the section of North 
East, in aggravation of the distance of from eight to fifteen miles which 
they now have to travel to get to the center, they have to cross the 
West Mountain (so called) which is a high ridge of fertile country well in- 
habited, stretching from north to south through the whole of Dutchess 
County, and steep in ascent and descent, and is about three miles over. * 
* * Your petitioners would further represent that the said town of 
Amenia is about sixteen miles in length and about six or rising in width, 
and that the inhabitants living in the northeast part of the town of Amenia 
travel from six to eleven miles to reach the center of the said town, and 
those the most remote have to cross the same high ridge of land, which 
adds much to the inconvenience of their attendance. " * * * 

Accompanying this petition was a copy of the valuation, real and per- 
sonal, taken from the tax roll of Amenia in 1822, of that portion of Amenia 
proposed to be set off to North East. Compared with the present condition 
i >f that territory in ownership and valuation it is worthy of notice. The 
persons owning real estate valued at six thousand dollars or over were — 
omitting fractional thousands — Abraham Bockee. 9,000; Elisha Bissell, 6; 
Nathan Conklin & Son, 7; James Collin, 18; Ezra Clark, 13; Douglass 
Clark, 10; Peter Fish, 6; John Guernsey, 9; Andrus Row, 5; Silas Roe, 10; 
Isaac Smith, 22; Conrad and Nicholas Sornberger, 6; Robert Wilson, 7; 
Anthony Wheeler, 6; Noah Wheeler, 10, and John Wlnchell, 6. The total 
real valuation of that portion of Amenia to be setoff was $388,668. Amount 
of valuation in the whole town of Amenia $1,011,585, leaving for the town 
$622,917. The number of inhabitants owning real estate in Amenia south 
of the proposed line was 254, and the number north of the line was 106. 
The petitioners say "after deducting all the mountain in the south part of 
the town of Amenia they will have as much good land as the new town 
will have with the mountains, swamps and ponds. There is a mountain 
in the eastern section of North East much less valuable than any in the 
south part of Amenia, and nearly as large an extent as all in the south 
part, and likewise a swamp of considerable extent." The Pine Plains ter- 
ritory gained but little in this tripartite arrangement, yet it was essential 
to her being that there should be enough territory and inhabitants east of 
Winchell Mountain to form a town, which could be had only by taking the 
Amenia strip. In doing this the interests of each and all were better ac- 
commodated, and the legislature so viewing it passed an act for division 
March 26, 1823, to take effect "from and after the last day of March" of 
that year, and the first' town meeting in North East "be held at the house of 
Alexander Neeley (North East Center) on the first Tuesday in April." Pine 
Plains was to hold town meeting at the house of Israel Reynolds (Stissing 
House) and in Amenia at Thomas Payne's (Pratt's Hotel). The act further 
specifies that the overseers of the poor of North East and Amenia should divide 
the money and pcor according to the last tax list, and the money hereto- 



PINE PLAINS ORGANIZED. 113 

fore raised in North East for roads and bridges, now in the hands of the 
commissioners of that town, should be divided between North East and 
Pine Plains, N^rth East to have fifty dollars and the remainder to go to 
Pine Plains. 

The tax list of North East in 1803 was taken as a basis for the division 
to form Milan. Old North East had 50,048^ acres, and Milan took off 21,- 
590 acres, leaving 28,452 acres in North East. Pine Plains took off about 
19,000 acres in the second division of North East, leaving about 9,400 acres 
of Old North East Town. But at this last division about 16,000 acres was 
taken from Amenia and added to North East, making about 25,000 acres. 
This is on the basis of the old tax rolls previous to the division. 

At the first town election of the new town of Pine Plains on Tuesday, 
April 1st, 1828, Israel Harris was elected supervisor, Reuben W. Bostwick, 
town clerk; Samuel Russell and Isaac Sherwood, overseers of the poor; Is- 
rael Harris and Reuben W. Bostwick had held these respective offices the 
year before in the undivided town of North East. No better selections 
therefore by the new town of Pine Plains could have been made to close 
up the business of the company town matters incident to the division, 
properly record the proceedings thereof and put the new town of Pine 
Plains in running order. The town had then, according to the assessment 
roll, 18,751 resident acres real estate, and 320 acres non-resident. Per- 
sonal valuation $26,150 and total tax, $986.62. 

The company business of the towns, Pine Plains and North East, was 
settled so far as could be before the spring elections. The act provided for 
the disposition of the highway money, and the matters left were the 
division of the poor and the poor fund and the school money. Those were 
settled April 8 and 9 by the newly elected officers of each town, which 
was held this spring — 1823— on Tuesday, April 1st. The poor board, 
according to the act of the legislature, for Pine Plains were Israel Harris, 
supervisor ; Samuel Russel and Isaac Sherwood overseers. For North 
East, were Philo M. Winchell, supervisor ; Eben Wheeler and Enos 
Hopkins overseers. The settlement was based upon the tax list of North 
East in 1822. According to this the new town of Pine Plains had a 
valuation of $439,025, and what was left of old North East $144,228— the 
Amenia part of North East did not come in this year— and this ratio they 
say "is a little less than one-fourth part to North East and a little more 
than three-fourths to Pine Plains." In the settlement and division of the 
poor, Pine Plains took fifteen of the town poor and $285.07 ; North East 
took six and $93. 64. Three poor, a claim against Milan of $22.34, and a 
claim against Washington of $20, were left undivided. The school fund 
was divided by North East taking $58. 70 and Pine Plains $60. 10. 

Another matter common to both towns was disposed of before a town- 
ship division was made, which was quit rents. This system was of 
English origin, and came to this country in the numerous land grants 



114 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

from the crown. It was the right reserved by the grantor to an annual 
tax, by which the possessor is quieted or quit from all other service or 
title. In the precincts of the early division of the county assessors were 
elected for their collection. The law was stringent. If not paid the lands 
were confiscated and sold by the commissioners of forfeitures appointed 
for that purpose. The last election for assessors of quit rents in North 
East Precinct was in the spring of 1775, when Hontice Couse and Israel 
Thompson were chosen. The revolutionary war commenced the next 
year, which, with its spirit of freedom, involved the question of quit 
rents. It was disastrous to the system. These taxes were odious to the 
friends of liberty, and public opinion gained ground against them. The 
system, now half dead, lived, however, until 1821, when the legislature 
passed an act abolishing quit rents by the payment of arrears to the state 
treasurer. The Little Nine Partner lots in Old North East were generally, 
if not all, subject to quit rents, and Milan being set off, twenty-one lots 
were left in Pine Plains and North East in 1822 — before they were divided 
— having arrears of quit rents, and some others had been confiscated and 
sold. Reuben W. Bostwick was then town clerk in North East, and 
February 10th, 1823, he wrote to Stephen Thorn of Milan, then member of 
the legislature at Albany, enclosing a list of the lots in the town in arrears 
for quit rents and confiscated. Mr. Thorn replied February 20 : 

"Dear Sir : I received your favor of the 10th inst. not till yesterday 
owing to my absence. I only returned from home last evening. Accord- 
ing to your request I called on the Comptroller and examined his book 
and found that none of the number of the lots you sent me are paid for. 
those lots which you mention had been confiscated and sold by the state 
would cost more money to make out their exemtion than all the quit rents 
would amount to on the whole lots in your list. The lots in your list are 
21, and the amount the state requires for the quit rents and commutation 
in all only amounts to $17.01. That must be paid before the first day of 
April next, and if it is not paid by that time, as the law stands, it will be 
increased six times the amount it now is. I am, Dear Sir, yours, 

Stephen Thorn." 

Mr. Bostwick sent the amount which the Comptroller receipted 
March 4th, 1823, "in full of all Quit Rent, past and future, charged in 
said land." This was the end of quit rents. 

Pine Plains having now a legal habitation and a name, I leave North 
East for the coming man. 










This Map Represents Residents in i860 and Earlier the Roads are same as now. 



CHAPTER XL 
TOWN OF PINE PLAINS. 

What about the geology of the town. Doctors disagree in diagnosis, 
and yet the town is too interesting a field to pass without saying something 
in regard to its general features. Pine Plains furnishes a variety in this 
line. Slate rock, lime rock solid and in layers and jagged spurs with 
notches and crevices and ragged edges, lime stone shale, glacier deposits 
and drift. But the oldest thing in the town is Stissing Mountain. Whether 
eozoic or paleozic, lower or upper Silurian or lower or upper Laurentian, 
or any of the intermediates of these, it is better baked than 
any other geological relic in town. It was in the great hot bakery a little 
longer — just a few minutes — and the sediment of sand-stone, gravel, clay, 
granite dust and such like — no shells then — were most thoroughly baked 
and crystallized into gneiss, schist, mica and other quartzlike hard stuff, 
and when it made its appearance in the western part of the town it was a 
great mass of rock. It came to stay. Heated clay and shells mixed with 
deposit settled around it to make slate rock and lime stone, or perhaps this 
sort of scum was floating around on the top of the great boil and old Stissing 
poked his head through. But this is doubted because the lime stone is ad- 
jacent to the east base of the mountain. It crops out at intervals near the 
mountain in the lake bed of Stissing valley, and about a mile and a half 
east of the mountain it forms a ridge parallel to Stissing, through the 
town, commencing on the Edward Huntting farm and extending to the 
Columbia county line, varying in width from one to two miles. On the 
west side of Stissing the slate rock generally laps upon it and for some dis- 
tance westerly it is the principal formation. Hence the doctors infer that 
Stissing was there first. 

The cooling process came, which produced a "horrid" squeeze. "Con- 
traction" they call it. The slate was contorted and deformed, set up 
edgewise and pinched into sugar-loaf hills, and piled up on precipices. 
This happened on the west side of Stissing and brought great grief to 
Milan. On the east side the deposit we call limestone was in some instances 
welded into a great solid mass, in others piled in layers, thrown in shaly 
heaps and set up into jagged spurs like the foot-stones in an old burial 
ground. Relics of this sort can be found on Mill Hill and other portions 
<>f this limestone formation. All this was done by the "squeeze," and old 
Stissing went through it without a scar. 

Later there came glaciers or great ice-bergs from the northwest float- 



116 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

ing on the deep waters, and one came this way by way of the Blue Store. 
The range of hills north from Hoffman's Mill turned it southerly be- 
tween Stissing Mountain and Mill Hill, and striking Huntting Hill in 
the south part of the town, and the high range southwest from there 
to the pass at Stissing station, it wedged between these several hills 
and was brought to a halt. In this cradle of the deep it rocked and 
rocked. The current was southerly and the channel was partially 
clogged. Gravel and sand were deposited in layers in the eddys and 
underneath and around it as the water escaped. A cluster of mounds 
and gravel and sand were formed on the Rysdorf farm as the waters 
whirled between Mill Hill and the sharp cliff at the farm dwelling. 
The bank north of the village, of sand and gravel, so useful for plastering 
and roads, was thus deposited in layers, a matter of great convenience. 
Stissing valley north from this bank was filled in like manner to Silvernail's. 
The Roloef Jansen and the Shacameco had not yet commenced their boom. 
They were not then born. 

Meanwhile the southerly end of this glacier or iceberg kept on grinding 
against Huntting Hill and the range to Stissing gap, breaking and drop- 
ping the small and great boulders of various sort it had pushed and carried 
from the north country, possibly from Canada. This sort of goods was 
exempt from duty and transportation free. Some fine specimens of con- 
glomerate rock dropped at this time can be seen on the north side of 
Huntting Hill, but the "dump" was at the Stissing gap, at the south end 
of Stissing Mountain. There, being depleted by breakage and erosion, it 
passed out and collided with one or more on the west side of Stissing 
Mountain moving in the same direction. In their southern passage they 
rubbed and pushed and dumped the hard boulders in a " winrow " between 
them. The hills of rock south of Bangall checked their progress, and in 
the halt, by rubbing and grinding they left a big dump there. The winrow 
extends from there southerly through the town of Washington. 

Later still something happened and the scattered waters began to re- 
cede or secede into a confederacy of "hitherto and no farther" limits, where 
they could have their trouble and unrest alone. Drainage commenced. 
An immense amount of filling deposited between the ranges of rock moun- 
tains was carried to the Atlantic and deposited at Long Island. It made 
the island. For this locality the valley of the Hudson was the main 
sewer, and the Catskills were worn down from their very tops in this work. 

How did this drainage affect Stissing valley? Well, there was a great 
basin west of the Takhannicks, two hundred and fifty feet or more higher 
than Stissing basin, Copake flats being near the center, the channel and 
current thereof being southerly through the Harlem valley. But as the 
great waters receded to their Atlantic home the Copake basin found an 
outlet westerly. Slowly at first the waters crept along, but as the general 
recession progressed the current and volume from the Copake basin cor- 



TOWN OF PINE PLAINS. 117 

respond ingly increased and deepened in the gorges of the solid rock in 
Ancram and Gallatin, scooping out all the sand and gravel and other debris 
therein, which was finally landed on Long Island. This gave birth to 
the Roloef Jansen. 

Stissing basin had its outlet southerly by way of the Wappinger and 
the Highlands, but when the Roloef Jansen made its deep cutatSilvernail's 
it made an outlet for the north end of the valley that way which remaineth 
unto this day. This gave birth to the Shacaineco, and it has been a hustler. 
All the deposit of sand and gravel and loam in the north end of Stissing 
valley from Pine Plains village to SilvernaiTs — three miles — has been car- 
ried out to help make Long Island. Great work was done where Mr. 
Jonas Knickerbocker has now a farm, and the east end of Church street — 
a good place to view the scoop — was laid out on the margin of the plain it 
kindly spared in that locality, which is over one hundred and fifty feet 
higher than the Roloef Jansen at Silvernail's where the Shacameco enters it. 

The dry land appeared. Here we are four hundred and fifty-six 
feet above tide water, the summit on the railroad line between Po'keepsie 
and the Roloef Jansen. It is the best place for a village or city on earth. 
The drainage is perfect naturally, either northerly through the valley of 
the Shacameco, or southerly through the valley of the Wappinger. We 
are fanned summer and winter by the alternate breezes respectively in 
their changes and seasons. Blue birds and robins come early and stay 
late. The swallow makes his annual return. The green hills and meadows 
are clothed with early blossoms. No standing pools nor poisonous marshes. 
Those great mouthed crocodiles and horrid reptiles and sea serpents and 
such like having ugly names — some people are beginning to think God 
never created them — the reptiles, not the names — because they are or were 
not "good" and "lovely" — left a good many years ago, and are only occa- 
sionally remembered by a harmless red lizard and a garter snake. The 
Stissing chain of lakes near by at the base of Stissing, which continue 
their outpour southerly, as of old, into the valley of the Wappinger, give 
the best of pickerel fishing, and plenty of it. It is perennial. 

The dry land appeared. The topography of a country makes the first 
impress upon a stranger. Pine Plains town in its surface outline may be 
compared to a large bowl, with the village in its center. Viewed from 
its elevated, circumscribed limits, from each and every point, the figure 



118 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 



holds good, unchanged in the changeable. Stissing valley with its lakes 
and fields is a beautiful gem of creation ; and conversely from this valley 
the surrounding hills and varied elevations are altars in a grand unwalled 
temple of nature, where the soul finds joy and inspiration. 

How long delighted 
The stranger fain would linger on his way. 

Thine is a scene alike where souls united 
Or lonely contemplation thus might stray, 
Where nature nor too sombre nor too gay 

Is to the mellow earth as autumn to the year. 

There can be no farewell to scene like thine, 

The mind is colored by thy every hue, 
And if reluctantly the eyes resign 

Their cherished gaze upon thee, 
'Tis with the thankful glance of parting praise, 

More mighty spots may rise, more glaring shine, 
But none unite in one attaching maze 

The brilliant fair and soft, the glory of Pine Plains. 

We can bid adieu, an au rcvoir, a come again to Stissing valley scenery, 
but no farewell. Come and see. Three railroads, Newburgh, Duchess and 
Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts and Central New England and 
Western (Poughkeepsie Bridge), each having a depot, run through this 
beautiful valley — ninety-seven miles from New York — and whosoever will 
may come twenty times a day and see that the half has not here been told. 
If not ready now to come the scenery will keep until your more convenient 
season, and be as charming then as now. 




CHAPTER XII. 

EARLY SETTLERS IN PINE PLAINS. 

The first man in this town after the dry land appeared was the Hudson 
River Indian, and lie later on was driven away by the pale faces without any 
compensation so far as we know for his abiding place or home. On lands 
adjoining the Hudson River and in Western Connecticut his right to the 
soil was acknowledged — at least in part — and an equivalent, such as it was, 
was rendered by the early white settlers. Settlements were made in 
Rhinebeck and Spencer's Corners — the latter in the Oblong — from fifteen 
to twenty years earlier than in Stissing valley. We were too late to get 
any Indian deeds or to require them, according to the custom in earlier 
times. The tribes or clans had been broken and scattered. The Indian 
was an abstraction. His concrete element had gone and gone forever, and- 
his illustration of the bundle of sticks denoting strength had come to pass.. 
The bundle had been rent and the sticks broken one by one. The only 
reference to any right of his in the soil to my knowledge in the town is in 
a deed from Richard Sackett, a patentee in the Little Nines, to Johan Tice 
Smith in 1741 (see page 21) wherein he says "some Native Indians there 
residing lay claim to some part of the above premises." His proviso in 
case they lawfully hold these premises was that Mr. Smith should have an 
equivalent in land elsewhere. This was the lands of the Indians at and in 
the neighborhood of the Shacameco Misssion. The Indians five years later 
were driven away, and their claim with them. In fact I know of no 
Indian title in the Little Nine Partner Patent. It was granted by the 
crown in 1706, confirmed in 1708 and lay vacant — except squatters — until 
1743, when the survey of Charles Clinton made way for the lawful division 
to the respective nine partners and brought the land into market. Our 
"Native Indians" and the Shacameco Mission with its missionaries and 
their biographies, and the biographies of the converted Indians, will have 
special mention hereafter. This mission alone will make the town ever 
memorable in historical annals. 

The very earliest settlers in Pine Plains were drift from the early 
Palatines. 

WHO WERE THE PALATINES? 

The history of the Palatines is neither new nor unwritten, but as many 



120 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

of the early settlers in this and adjoining towns, in Columbia county as 
well as in Dutchess, were their descendants, it seems appropriate that a 
brief notice of them should have a place in town history. 

From one to three centuries ago there were two separate districts in 
Germany, called Upper and Lower Palatinate, located respectively in the 
upper and lower Rhine districts. The Upper Palatinate contained about 
twenty-seven hundred square miles, and is principally the modern Bavaria. 
The Lower Palatinate — the native country of our New York Palatines — 
contained about sixteen hundred square miles, embraced both sides of the 
Rhine bordering the modern Alsace and Lorraine, and Heidelberg was one 
of its principal cities. It was also its capital for a long time, and was cele- 
brated for its university, its eminent professors, and its library of two 
hundred thousand volumes. By invasions it was plundered, causing its 
decline, and about the beginning of the present century it, including the 
district, was united to Baden. 

In the years of the Reformation Protestantism increased rapidly 
throughout Western Germany, and Heidelberg was one of its centers. 
France also felt its influence, and Nantes, or Nantz, as it is written in the 
older histories, was a French center for Protestantism. At this city, April 
15. 1 598, Henry the Fourth of France, called Henry of Navarre, issued an 
edict securing religious liberty to the French Protestants, which was the 
"Edict of Nantes." This remained in force nearly a century, when, Octo- 
ber 22, 1685, Louis XIV revoked the edict by its repeal, declaring the 
demolition of Protestant churches, prohibiting their meeting for worship 
in any place under confiscation and death, the banishment of their minis- 
ters from the kingdom within fifteen days unless they became Roman 
Catholics, shutting up their schools, the baptism of their children by 
Roman Catholic priests, under penalty of live hundred livres, and many 
other proscriptions. 

This revocation was followed by oppression, persecution and war in 
Western Europe for a quarter of a century, and a large number of Protest- 
ants in France and the German Palatinates on the Rhine mean- 
time left their homes. Nantes was the center of that class of Protestants 
in France known as Huguenots. These the revocation reached imme- 
diately, and many during these years emigrated to Boston and New York, 
and became staunch patriots in this, their adopted country. Some names 
of lustre are in the colonial annals of Massachusetts and New York. James 
Bowdoin, Henry Laurens, Elias Boudinot and John Jay were French 
Huguenots. John Jay in his lifetime was president of Congress, Ambas- 
sador to a foreign court, Chief Justice and Governor of New York. 

But the Palatine Germans are of more direct and local interest. The 
invasion of the Palatinates by the French in 1707 was the direct and cul- 
minating cause of the Palatine emigration, as it enforced the revocation 
of Louis Fourteenth. Early in the year 1708, the next year after the inva- 




CHARLES RUDD. 
LSee Lineage. ] 



122 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

sion, "41 Lutherans" from the Palatinate went to England and asked to be 
transported to America. Free transportation was granted. Very soon 
after, June 25th, the same year, "Joshua De Kocherthal, minister," on 
behalf of himself and thirteen others (fourteen in all) sent a petition to 
Queen Ann, stating they w r ere ' 'desirous to settle themselves in some of 
your Majesty's plantations in America, but by reason of their extreme 
poverty they cannot defray their charges for passage thither." Mr. 
Kocherthal further "most humbly entreats your Majesty to grant him 
such salary for the support of himself and family as your Majesty in your 
great clemency shall think fit. " This petition was accompanied by testi- 
monials under the hands and seals of the bailiffs or principal magistrates 
of the villages where they dwelt, which testimonials "do give a good 
character of the said poor Protestants, and certify that they are reduced to 
the utmost want, having lost all they had by the frequent incursions of the 
French and Germans near Landau." This petition was also granted as to 
transporttation, and Mr. De Kocherthal, ' 'High German Minister of the 
Gospel," on July 7, 1708, a short time before leaving England petitioned 
again for a donation of twenty pounds to buy books and clothing. On the 
13th following the board l-eported, recommending the allowance of the 
twenty pounds, and also five hundred acres "for a glebe." 

Of these fourteen mentioned in the petition two were employed 1 > y 
Lord Lovelace (probably as servants) leaving twelve to be provided for, 
which, added to the forty-one previously provided for, made a total of 
fifty three. One of these, Herman Schuneman, aged twenty-eight and 
unmarried, was from Holstein (the two employed by Lovelace and inclu- 
ded in the original fourteen, were also from Holstein) and the remaining 
fifty-two were from the Palatinate. They were denizened in England 
August 25, and expected to settle in Jamaica or one of the West India Is- 
lands, but the council of New York recommended their settlement on the 
Hudson, which was subsequently complied with. This was the first immi- 
gration of Palatines and occurred in the fall of 1708 The paternal names of 
the families were Lorenz Schwisser, Henry Rennau, Andreas Volck, Mich- 
ael Wiegand, Jacob Weber, Jacob Pletel, Johannes Fischer. Melchoir Gulch, 
Isaac Turk, JoshuaDeKocherthal, (minister), Peter Rose, Isaac Feber, Daniel 
Fiere, and Herman Schuneman, from Holstein. The remainder of the fif- 
ty-three are women and children. 

The second emigration occurred about a year after, and is the one of 
special interest in their history, so far as it relates to the Hudson River lo- 
cality about German town and the country bordering to the east and west. 
Protestant England, under Queen Ann, opened her doors to these fugitives ; 
and encouraged by the favor shown to the fifty-three, at the end of 1708 
thousands had entered her realm. They were poor, received charitable 
support, and a tax and burthen to the English people. How to remove or 
lessen this load, was a question for the attention of the lords and commis- 



EARLY SETTLERS IN PINE PLAINS. 123 

sioners of trade, and correspondence thereunto was held with the boai'd of 
trade of New York, then one of her Majesty's colonies. The board of New 
York, in a letter of Aug. 30, 1709, suggests that they will have to be sup- 
ported for one year after their arrival, at a cost of "about five pound per 
head, " that they should be prohibited from manufacturing woolen goods, 
for this would be "to the prejudice of the manufactures of this kingdom 
now consumed in these parts," that for location "we know no place so 
proper as Hudson's River on the frontier of New York, whereby they will 
be a good barrier between her Majesty's subjects and the French and their 
Indians in those parts, and in process of time by intermarrying with their 
neighboring Indians (as the French do) they may be capable of rendering- 
very great service to her Majesty's subjects there." They also suggest 
that Virginia has a ' 'clear and healthful air, wild vines naturally grow and 
afford plenty of grapes," and a suitable place for "vine dressers." 

The support of "these poor Palatines," which England had imposed 
upon herself by her Christian benevolence and sympathy was an unfore- 
seen burden. They had been admitted to her kingdom, and now there, to 
maintain them involved expense, to get rid of them involved greater ex- 
pense. Hence arose the question of utility. Transportation and mainte- 
nance for a year had to be provided for, and how to utilize these Palatine 
refugees to bring a return for this outlay was a problem for the lords of 
trade to solve. The manufacture of woolen goods, weaving, etc. , the Pal- 
atines were familiar with, but these were the industries of England. 
"Wool," writes Bancroft, "was the great staple of England, and its grow- 
ers and manufacturers envied the colonies the possession of a flock of sheep, 
a spindle, or a loom." Turpentine, tar, and resin she could not produce, 
but purchased from Norway and Sweden. These products were necessities 
for her merchantmen and navy. Commissioners from her navy board had 
formerly been sent to New England to inspect the naval stores, and New 
England tar was found to be as good as that from Stockholm, and at a 
little less cost. Moreover American tar could be paid for in woolen and 
other manufactures, while that from Norway and Sweden had to be bought 
with gold or its equivalent. Thus it was finally settled the fugitives 
should be employed in making turpentine, tar and resin, "naval stores. " 
This determination of the lords logically located them in the pine woods of 
the American colonies, and the number provided for at this time was 
estimated at three thousand. 

Lovelace, the Governor of New York, had recently died, and Colonel 
Robert Hunter, a Scotchman by birth, a friend of Addison and Swift, good 
looking and accomplished, was appointed his successor and commissioned 
October. 18, 1709. He was yet in London, and wrote to the New York 
board the decision of the English board in regard to the three thousand 
Palatines, asking their suggestions thereon. The New York board replied 
December 9, 1709, suggesting a location, a plan for regulating their labor 



124 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

and its productions, and sundry other recommendations which were sub- 
stantially adopted, and appear in the covenant or agreement signed by the 
Palatines before leaving England. This indenture or covenant was sub 
mitted to Mr. Montague, the attorney general, and by him returned to the 
lords commissioners of trade, December 21, 1709, with some suggestions 
of erasures. One suggested erasure referred to a clause in the covenant 
binding them to the payment of the money advanced for their transporta- 
tion "out of the produce of our labours in the manufacture of naval stores 
on the lands to that end to be allotted to us." Another suggested erasure 
is "settle ourselves in such places as shall be allotted us in the Province of 
New York on the continent of North America," and abide and continue 
upon the lands, (this not to be erased) "in such body and society as shall 
be thought useful or necessary either for carrying on the. manufacture of 
things proper for naval stores, or for the defense of us and the rest of her 
Majesty's subjects against the French or any other of her Majesty's ene- 
mies." Another and the last suggested erasure is, "and towards repay- 
ment of her Majesty, her heirs and successors, all such sums of money as 
she or they shall at any time distribute for our support and maintenance 
till we can reap the benefit of the produce of our labors, we shall permit 
and suffer all naval stores by us manufactured to be put into her Majesty's 
storehouses which shall be for this purpose provided, under the care of a 
commissary, who is to keep a faithful account of the goods which shall be 
so delivered, and we shall allow out of the neat produce thereof, so much 
to be paid to her Majesty, her heirs and successors, as upon a fair account 
shall appear to have been disbursed for subsistence of us, or providing nec- 
essaries for our families. " These are all the clauses in the covenant sug- 
gested for erasure by Attorney General Montague, but it does not appear 
his suggestions were assented to by the lords of trade of London. The 
binding force and nature of these clauses are apparent. 

The covenant commences and stipulates in addition to the above, "we 
the underwritten persons, natives of the Lower Palatinate on the Rhine, 
have been subsisted, maintained and supported ever since our arrival in 
this kingdom by the great and Christian charity of her Majesty, the 
Queen, and of many of her good subjects, " acknowledge the advance of a 
loan towards transporting, maintaining and "settling of us and our respect • 
ive families" in America, that after the repayment of the "full sum" advan- 
ced for their transportation and support "out of the produce of their 
labors in naval stores," then Governor Hunter shall "grant forty acres to 
•each person free from all taxes, quit rents or other manner of services for 
seven years from the date of such grant," said lands to be subject afterward 
to the same reservations as other lands in the provinces. Tbey further 
covenant to abide and continue upon the lands allotted to them, and "not 
upon any account or any manner of pretense quit or desert the said province 
without leave from the governor * * "and not concern ourselves in 
working up or making things belonging to the woolen manufacture." 



EARLY SETTLERS IN PINE PLAINS 125 

These clauses, with the ones noticed by the Attorney General for eras- 
ure, contain in substance the stipulations embraced in the contract or cov- 
enant- the estimated three thousand Palatines signed, or the heads of 
families in behalf of the minors, before leaving England, which was dur- 
ing the latter part of the winter of 1709-'10, or the early spring follow 
ing. Governor Hunter received his instructions as Governor of New York 
December 27 and 30, 1709, and sailed soon after, parliament meantime hav- 
ing appropriated £10,000 for the Palatine fund. 

The ship Lyon of Leith, the frigate Herbert, the Berkley Castle and 
some others, were the transporting vessels for these emigrants, who were 
furnished with arms, tents, kettles, ladles and other things necessary for 
the prosecution of the work they had agreed upon, and furnished also with 
supplies for subsistence. The passage was a rough one, and in the storms 
the vessels were separated. The Lyon, in June, arrived in New York. The 
Herbert, containing the arms and tents, went ashore on the east end of 
Long Island, damaging the goods, but no lives were lost, and the Berkley 
Castle did not arrive until some time after the 24th of July. The Palatines 
were "mighty sickly" on their arrival, and 470 died on the passage, 
Quarantine regulations were established on Governor's Island where they 
landed, and a special ordinance issued by Governor Hunter for their gov- 
ernment. The deaths during the passage made many orphans among the 
children. These orphans were apprenticed, and thus located in many vil- 
lages throughout Long Island and New York Their term of service under 
these indentures expired at the age of seventeen for boys, and fifteen for 
girls. The Palatines remained on the island until the following fall when, 
the last of September, the first removal was made to the lands assigned 
them on the Hudson. Six thousand acres for this purpose, at a cost of two 
hundred and twenty-six pounds sterling, lying on the east side of the river 
were purchased of Robert Livingston. Another tract of unappropriated 
land on the west side of the river, bordering its bank about a mile, was 
also taken. 

"I have now settled the Palatines upon good lands on both sides of 
Hudson's River, about one hundred miles up, adjacent to the Pines. I 
have planted them in five villages, three on the east side of the river upon 
6,000 acres I have purchased of Mr. Livingston, about 2 miles from Row- 
Lof Jansen's Kill. The other two on the west side near Sawyer's Creek. 
The lands on the west side belong to the Queen, each family hath a 
sufficient lot of good arable Land and ships of 15 foot draught of water 
can sail up as far as their plantations. They have already bnilt themselves 
comfortable huts and are now employed in clearing the ground." — (Hunter 
to Lords of Trade, Nov. 14, 1710.— Col. Hist. N. Y., Vol. V, p. 180.) 

These were surveyed and divided into five townships, three on the 
east side of the river and two on the west side, by John Bridger, who 
several years previous was commissioned by the English board of admiral- 



126 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

ty to examine the American forests relative to ship timber, and the pro- 
duction of naval stores, and who was still in the employment of the govern- 
ment at a yearly salaiy of 200 pounds. For this reason and for his supposed 
knowledge of making tar, Governor Hunter called him from New England, 
where he was then engaged, to assist in the location, and make the survey 
of the Palatine lands. The number of Palatines located on their lands by 
the middle of November, 1710, according to the Post Commissary, James 
Du Pre, was two thousand two hundred and twenty seven. 

Thus the Palatines were located, but this was not the end. They were 
still the objects of the "unlimited compassion and constant goodness" of the 
English parliament. Twelve thousand seven hundred pounds, two thous- 
and seven hundred more than the original grant, had already been ex- 
pended "in subsisting and settling of those people." The governor was in 
need. Necessity pressed. Winter was at hand, with a prospective wolf at 
the door. The Palatines had been quarantined on Governor's (Nuttin's) 
Island all summer. They had raised nothing from the soil, to aid in sub- 
sistence, and it was now too late to prepare the pine trees for making tar. 
The expense was still eating, because the same must the Palatines. 

Immediately after the Palatines were located — November, 1710 — Gov- 
ernor Hunter sent Du Pre, the commissary, to England with the bills for 
sustenance up to this time, to present to the board for allowance. Bearing 
upon this during the previous summer and early fall, official letters ex- 
pressing nattering prospects of the production of naval stores, had been 
written to the English board of trade. As late as November 14, Hunter 
writes: "I myself have seen Pitch Pine enough upon the river to serve all 
Europe with Tar. " John Bridger, the Queen's surveyor, whom at that 
time Hunter had employed to superintend the Palatines in the production 
of tar, wrote about the same date, in substance the same. These two let • 
ters— Governor Hunter's is embodied in an official report— were also carried 
by Du Pre. Hunter wanted money, and this report was favorable to his 
object. But it was discovered, and had been so reported to the English 
board of trade by John Bridger and others experienced in tar making, that 
tar could not be produced from the pine trees short of two years. Not a 
pine tree had been touched by the Palatines and in the report of Governor 
Hunter, from which the above extract is taken, he writes: "I compute 
that £15,000 a year for two successive years will be sufficient to defray the 
expense of their subsistence." The two years were to commence at "mid- 
summer, 1710." 

This changed ' 'the unlimited compassion and constant goodness" of 
some of the lords to limited compassion and inconstant goodness. Lord 
Cornbury, now Earl of Clarendon, the Queen's cousin, thought as much 
naval stores could be made and brought to England without the Palatines 
as with them, that Hunter had made a mistake in purchasing lands of Liv- 
ingston, as Livingston's object was to make money out of his brewery and 




WILLIAM MASSEY. 
[See Lineage.] 



128 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

"victualing of those Palatines;" that there were better lands for the pur- 
pose in other places ; that Livingston would get all the money ; that after 
the two years are expired, subsistence for two more will be wanted, "and 
soon;" "that no person that has his limbs, and will work, can starve in 
that country, as every man or woman above 15 years of age may earn 
two shillings and three pence New York money per day;" that joiners, 
smiths, masons, and other handicrafts can earn five shillings, and that 
nothing but willful laziness will bring those people into danger of starv- 
ing." He claimed also that Hunter had made no deduction in his bills for 
the deceased, "because it is certain many of them are dead." (The price 
per day allowed the Palatines for sustenance was a York shilling for those 
over ten years of age and 8 cents for those under ten — an English 6 pence 
and 4 pence.) The Earl, who was formerly Governor of New Jersey, and 
unpopular, may have been touched with jealousy, or taken a dislike to 
Robert Livingston, through some former alleged crooked act of his. What- 
ever the cause, and whether the earl was right or wrong, many held the 
same opinion in regard to the Palatines. To add to the embarrassment 
England was pressed for other colonial expenses, to meet which, she was 
agitating the question of raising money by a revenue, which had hereto- 
fore been done principally by grants. 

The villages laid out in the Palatine townships were Hunterstown, 
Queensbury, Elizabethtown, Annsbury, and Georgetown. These included 
the residents on both sides of the Hudson in the vicinity of. what is now 
Coeymans and Georgetown. Annsbury, on the west side, was surveyed by 
Livingston's son, had Co lots of 40 acres each, and had sixty-three families. 
In these the majority spent their first winter in America. A few went to 
Albany, some to New York, and all were not sIoav to hear and learn about 
this new country, and who and what was in it. They found there was bet- 
ter land in other places which offered them a better living than making tar. 
Discontent broke out and became an infectious disease. "We came to 
America to establish our families," said one, "to secure lands for our 
children, on which they will be able to support themselves after we die, 
and that we cannot do here." "Have patience," replied another. "Patience 
and hope make fools of those who fill their bellies with them," answered 
the first. The discontent became mutinous among those located on the 
west side of the river, who had determined to leave and settle on lands in 
"Schohary." They had formed a "secret association," and resolved not to 
make tar, and forbid the surveyors to lay out any more lots for them. 
(Forty acre lots according to the contract.) A similar mutinous feeling ex- 
isted among those on the east side. 

The governor sent for a detachment of sixty soldiers from the garrison 
at Albany, to meet him at the Manor of Livingston, where he held a coun- 
cil with the Palatines, who were represented by their deputies, and in an- 
swer to the reason of hindering the surveyors, said their lands were ' 'worth 



EARLY SETTLERS IN PINE PLAINS 129 

nothing," and it was needless to survey it, for they would have no more, 
but wanted the lands at Schohary, "which the queen had ordered them by 
their contract. " The governor replied "that those lands the Indians had 
not parted with, and besides, they had obliged themselves to settle on such 
lands as he should assign them." The deputies still insisted on moving to 
Schohary, whereupon the governor, "in writing, told that since neither 
their duty, allegiance or regard to her Majesty's unparalleled charity and 
goodness in taking them up, and providing for them when they were 
starving, and abandoned by all the world besides, had been of any force to 
keep them within the bounds of their duty, and since they had no regard 
to a solemn contract signed by them, he was come to require and enforce 
the execution of it, copies and translations of which they had in their own 
language." The deputies took a copy of the proceedings to submit to their 
representative and the council adjourned to meet the following day. The 
council met, the deputies returned answer, and "told his excellency that 
they would rather lose their lives immediately than remain where they are, 
that they are cheated by the contract, it not being the same read to them 
in England. There it runs thus, that seven years after they had had forty 
acres a head given them, they were to repay the Queen by hemp, mast- 
trees, tar and pitch or anything else, .so that it may be no damage to any 
man or his family. Upon these terms they will perform the contract, but 
to be forced by another contract, (the original contract was read to them 
in High Dutch at this council. — I. H.) to remain on these lands all their 
lives, and work for her Majesty for the ship's use, that they will never do. 
What does it signify to promise them this land that they shall make pitch 
and tar. The}* will be obedient to the Queen, but they will have the prom 
ise kept that Mr. Cast (John or Jean Cast was acting commissary, and 
watching over them this winter. — I. H.) read to them in High Dutch in 
England, and that upon that land which was promised them they will be 
there, and if they cannot, they desire that three or four men may goe 
for England and lay their case before the Queen." The council was sud- 
denly terminated by the arrival of a messenger informing the governor 
"that there was a great body of men in arms on the other side of the 
brook." The governor, reinforced since the day previous by another de- 
tachment of seventy men, marched the detachment "immediately" over 
the brook and "the Palatines were run home to their houses." The result 
was, they were all disarmed on both sides of the river, all military commis- 
sions were revoked and they were put entirely under the command of 
their overseers and directors as the Queen's hired servants." By refer- 
ence to the covenant it is seen that they were bound, in the payment for 
their transportation and outfit "by the produce of our labors in the manu- 
facture of all manner of naval stores on the lands to that end to be allotted 
tons." Every other industry was excluded, which they claimed was a 



130 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

fraud, and if their recollection in regard to this be correct it is a most sig- 
nificant part of their history. They wanted to raise hemp and spin and 
weave linen. But their requests were disregarded and they were forced 
into silence, but not submission. 

In his lair, 
Fix'd passion holds his breath until the hour 
Which shall atone for years. 

The Palatines' first American winter had passed, and Rev. Joshua De- 
Kocherthall and Rev. John Frederick Hagen or Hager were with them. 
Kocherthall was with those on the west side, and said his people "will not 
listen to tar making." Governor Hunter, as an officer faithful to his gov- 
ernment, could do no less than he did by suppressing the insurrection, and 
further, be it said to his praise, he had during the winter supplied them 
with provisions and tools obtained by his personal credit, meanwhile wait- 
ing and hoping for the English board of trade to send him allowances. He 
was perplexed, and impatient for the return of DuPre, the, commissary, 
whom he had despatched to England with tlie bills in the middle of No- 
vember last. It was now the 7th of May, and he had not arrived. The time 
also for fitting the pines for tar making had come, but John Bridger, the 
Queen's timber agent and surveyor — who the summer before surveyed the 
Palatine townships, and whom Hunter then employed to superintend the 
manufacture of tar, for which service the governor recommended a special 
yearly salary of one hundred pounds — was on the Piscata pia river in New 
England, protecting the forests of her Majesty by filling his purse with the 
avails of the privileged cuttings of pine masts and the building of saw 
mills by a few favorites of his. He could not come, and the Governor em- 
ployed as superintendent Richard Sackett, "who hath lived three years in 
the Eastern countries among the manufacturers of tarr, and gives a very 
rational account of the method of preparing the trees. " 

Sackett went to the "Camp" May 24, 1710, and set the Palatines to 
preparing the pines for tar, according to his method, which is thus describ- 
ed: "In the spring when the sap is up, he barks the north quarter of the 
circumference about two feet in length, where the sun has least force to 
draw out the turpentine. In the fall before the sap falls down, he barks 
the south quarter about two feet and four inches ; next spring, the east 
quarter for the former reason about two feet and eight inches, and in 
the fall the remaining quarter near three feet, after which the part above 
what is barked being full of turpentine, is cut down, split and put into 
kilns for tar." By this "method" — about the first of June — the Pala- 
tines are supposed to have prepared about 15,000 trees a day. 

The summer of 1711 passed, and September came, the Governor mean- 
time supplying the Palatines from his personal effects and credit, rather 
as he says, "than let drop so beneficial a project." "I have launched out all 
the money and credit I could raise in the pursuit of it," he writes Septem- 



EAKLY SETTLERS IN VINE PLAINS. 131 

ber 12, of that year, "tho' I have as yet no returns to my tirst bills I have 
drawn on my Lord Treasurer." The bills went to the English Lords of 
Trade first, then to Lord Dartmouth, her Majesty's principal Secretary of 
State. He consulted Lord Cornbury, now Earl of Clarendon, as he was 
familiar with the New York colonies, having been governor of them 
some years previous, and moreover was known to be bitterly opposed to 
the whole Palatine scheme. The Secretary referred the bills back to the 
lords of trade for correction, coupled with objections and queries and ob- 
jections. This was the red tape, see- saw policy, which financially embar- 
rassed and greatly perplexed Governor Hunter. 

The objections above referred to are the queerest papers in this Pala- 
tine correspondence, and considering the time they were made — in Decem- 
ber, 1711, after a correspondence and discussion of tico years upon the sub 
ject matter involved — they become ridiculous and a mockery. 

The objections are : 

1st. — "That there was no need of the Palatines to set the manufacture 
of naval stores on foot, because others might have done as well. 

2d.— "That the Governor did not settle the Palatines on the most con- 
venient place for raising such stores. 

3d. — "That the Governor has fallen into bad hands when he contract- 
ed with Col. Robert Livingston, he being represented to have defrauded 
the crown of great sums of money when he subsisted the forces at 
Albany. 

4th. — "That the Palatines might have hired themselves to day labor 
and have earned their own living." 

DuPre, the commissary and agent of Hunter, had now been in London 
over a year urging the allowance of the Palatine bills, assisted by Micajah 
Perry and John Keill. These three constituted the committee in behalf of 
Governor Hunter, and to them the above objections of the lords of trade 
were referred. 

December 11, 1711, they returned answer. To the first objection, they 
reply that while others can make naval stores, the Palatines are bound by 
a contract, and have "thereby obliged themselves to make it their sole bus- 
iness." To the second objection they answer, the lands selected were the 
only available lands to be had for the purpose, and the location is in all re- 
spects the most advantageous. To the third they answer that Robert Liv- 
ingston has been exonerated from the alleged misconduct and fraud refer- 
red to, by a "Committee of Council," who examined his accounts; that the 
contracts between Livingston and Governor Hunter in regard to the Pala- 
tines, were drawn by Chief Justice Mompesson, by which Livingston was 
strongly bound to furnish bread and beer at the rates the magistrates of the 
city of New York should from time to time set upon them, and if at any 



132 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

time the Palatines or their overseers objected to the quality of bread or beer 
so furnished. Mr. Livingston "did oblige himself to take it back and give 
better in lieu thereof." T To the fourth objection they reply by pleading the 
contract. "The Palatines could not have hired themselves to dav labor," say 
the committee, "without disbanding themselves after their arrival at New 
York, which his Excellency could not have given his consent to, without 
disobeying the Queen's Royal Instructs ms, which are positive for settling 
them in a body and for subsisting them until they could subsist off the pro- 
duct of their labour. " These were substantially the answers of the com- 
mittee to the four objections. They might have said, My Lords, you have 
furnished us a large manger in her Majesty's New York colonies. To this 
we are tied with a strong rope. There is abundant provender in the man- 
ger, but beside it lies the English bulldog. 

These proceedings, however, wrung an answer in February, 1712. 
from the London board of trade, addressed to Governor Hunter, compli- 
menting him on his management, and entrusting the future "method" of 
their support to him, but without any present financial relief, or promise 
of any such relief in future. 

March comes, and with it "uneasiness" to the Governor, because the 
old bills are not paid. Still he prosecutes the work, "having her Majesty's 
command to that effect." Mr. Sackett is with the Palatines to superintend 
during the "barking season," and thus the summer passes, the Palatines, 
meanwhile being encouraged by the promise of half the profits of the tar. 
October 18, DuPre arrives from England, bringing no money or promises 
of any, from the English board. Governor Hunter was discouraged, and 
on the thirty-first writes, "my substance and credit being exhausted, I had 
no remedy left but by a letter to the managers of the works, to intimate to 
that people that they should take measures to subsist themselves during 
this winter upon the lands where they were planted." This practically 
ended the English supremacy over the Palatines, for immediately upon the 
receipt of these instructions to the overseers and to the Palatines, many 
left for Schoharie, and during the fall and winter were busy in cutting a 
road to Schenectady. Others remained where they were domiciled until 
the spring of 1713, when they scattered in all directions in quest of homes. 
Some cut their way through the wilderness to the Susquehanna, built 
canoes and paddled their women and children down that beautiful river, 
and set up their household gods in the present limits of Pennsylvania, 
whither many afterwards immigrated from Germany, founding a German 
colony beyond the jurisdiction of the British lion. Many settled in the 
valley of the Mohawk, and of them the hour came, 

Which shall atone for years, 
which was August 6, 1777, at the battle of Oriskany. It was a sarcasm 
with a double edge. Sixty-eight years before, the English board proposed 
to locate these "poor Palatines on the frontier of New York whereby they 



vi zv. v\. \Zi 

will be* good bat 

■'i in p r o em of tfm 

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tri[»arT.it>: CSUBpa 

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f',r - wa» 

faithful, contirti . ;da, as he 

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] withh*. I 
fiaid at all. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



EARLY SETTLERS IN PINE PLAINS. 



The earliest record of any white residents living in Pine Plains is in 
the diaries of the Moravian Missionaries, who came here in 1740. The set 
tiers so-called at that time were squatters, for no title could be given by 
any of the "Little Nine Partners" until after the division allotment by the 
respective "Partners" or their heirs or assigns, Oct. 19, 1744. Previous to 
this the interests and ownerships in the whole tract were undivided. The 
diaries of the respective missionaries from 1740 to '46 would probably give 
names of some settlers in this locality at that time. But these diaries are 
yet in manuscript in the Moravian archives at Bethlehem, or in the other 
archives at Hurnhut, Europe, From what has been published of these 
diaries it is evident there were squatter settlers in this town in 1740. They 
mention "the neighboring Christians" and "some white people" at Shaca 
meco, and personally "John Rau" — Rowe — who lived on the south part of 
the Steger farm, and "Hendrickson's Mountain," referring to Briggs Hill, 
where Hendrick Kiefer lived. From other records Johan Tice Smith was 
a resident in October, 1741, but not an owner of land. These are the ear- 
liest settlers in this town of which I have any record. The old ' 'Booth 
House" west of the village had been built before that in about 1728 or '30 
and used as an Indian trading post. Of these earliest settlers little is 
known to me in history except John Row, of whom I make personal men- 
tion. Johannes Rauh — Rau, now Rowe — was one of the Palatines who 
settled on the east bank of the Hudson. He was born in 1096 in Germany, 
and is supposed to have come to this country with his father, Nicholas, 
with the first immigrations of the Palatines in 1710 to '15, when he was 
yet a minor of fifteen or eighteen years, and located on the Hudson at 
Germantown, then a part of Livingston Manor, Columbia Co., N. Y. Rich- 
ard Sackett, a native of New England, and enterprising, was appointed 
commissioner in 1711— '15 to look after the Palatines at "the camp" in Ger- 
mantown on the Hudson River, in making pitch, tar and turpentine for 
the English navy. He had previously, in 1704, obtained a patent for a 
tract of land in the Oblong, and through his acquaintance and influence 
with the Palatines he induced some Palatines to settle on his tract in the 
Oblong. John Rowe appears in 1741 as purchaser of three quarters of 
"Gore Lot, No. 3." "The Gore, " a little strip of land between the Great 
and Little Nine Partners, was surveyed and divided into four lots in April, 
1740, by Jacob Ter Bush (Judge Bush). Lot three was owned by Jacob 



KARLY SETTLERS IN PINE PLAINS. 135 

Hoff and Isaac Germond of Crum Elbow, one quarter; Cornelius Van 
Wyck and Theodoras Van Wyck of Rombout, each one quarter, and the 
heirs of Jan DeGraff one quarter. August 15, 1741, '-Johannes Rau, of 
Crum Elbow, yeoman," bought of Cornelius VanWyck and Theodoras Van 
Wyck their interests, one quarter each, for fifty pounds, and the next day, 
August 16, bought of Jacob Hoff and Isaac Germond their undivided 
one quarter for fifty pounds. The other quarter interest in the heirs of 
Jan DeGraff was not purchased. The lot was bounded south by "Lot No. 
18" in the Great Nine Partners, east by the heirs of Col. Henry Filkins, 
"being eastei-ly part of the Gore," north by the "Upper Nine Partners." — 
Little Nines — and West by Augustine Graham's assigns, containing seven 
hundred and fifteen acres, of which he owned the undivided three quar- 
ters. At the time of this purchase in August, 174'., he was living on the 
south part of the Silas Smith-Steger farm in the long house now gone — it 
was there in 1832 and later— which it is supposed he built. Here with him 
Christian Henry Rauch, the first Moravian missionary to this section — 
after trials and exposures in many ways and no abiding place for the first 
year of his labors, commencing in August, 1740, found a home in 1741, and 
taught school and practiced medicine, the first "schoolmaster" in the 
present town boundaries, His practice of medicine was limited and his 
knowledge of it not enough to have the dignity of "Doctor." Here, too; 
at "Hannas Rowe's," Charles Clinton, with his corps of surveyors, put up, 
Thursday night, May 5, 1743, when running his "outline" boundary line of 
the Little Nine Partner tract, and wrote two letters the next morning, 
one to James Alexander, one of the then proprietors of the Little Nines, of 
New York, and the other to Robert Livingston, of Ancram. 

In addition to early settlers, a tradition comes to me by Robert Ter 
Bush Eddy, of an immigration to this town about 1769. It came to him 
through his grandmother, Christina Weber, who married Joseph TerBush. 
She was one of this immigration with her uncle, Leonard Weber. A man 
named Hubbell and one Roger Sherman were two of the men in the com- 
pany and all, about twenty-five, came into New York state from Massachu- 
setts by way of Egremont, Mount Washington and Copake. They camped 
at Boston Corners. It was then about the middle of March and snow fell 
during that encampment about three feet deep. Among their belongings 
was an iron cannon, a six pounder, which they there took from its carriage, 
put it on a boat sled and came down through Hiserodt-Strever Valley and 
camped near the Graham-Landon, now Robert Thomas settlement. The 
Grahams had not yet come. Hubbell went on the north side of Little Stis- 
sing and built a cabin near the spring at the watering trough, as the road 
runs now to Mount Ross. Hence it was called the "Hubbell Spring." No 
road there then. The road, such as it was, to Mount Ross was north of that. 
Hubbell lived thereto the time of the Revolutionary war The tories from 



136 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Clinton and the west side of Stissing invaded Pine Plains through this 
pass, and Hubbell's was a post for rallying to drive them off. He protect- 
ed the frontier and had several chases after tories west of the Stissings, 
but it is not reported that he ever killed one. Roger Sherman was buried 
at Ancram. This for tradition. 

Some Facts. — The iron cannon remained here during the last years of 
the last century and until the '30's of this century, when on a 4th of July, 
Arba Piatt, a wagon maker, was seriously injured by a premature discharge 
while he had charge of the gun. Not long after it was taken to the Hotchkiss 
foundry in Sharon Valley and exchanged for a smaller gun, which in its 
turn has long since gone. The TerBush and Weber families were among 
the earliest families in this locality. Thei - e were five TerBush men, Peter, 
Joseph, John, Jacob, Benjamin. The name is written TerBush, TerBoss, 
and Bush, the latter is the name now. The TerBush homestead or first log 
house was between the house of Daniel Pool and Mill Hill. Benjamin 
TerBush lived there in 1775 and was a signer of the revolutionary "Asso- 
ciation" that year. There he deceased in 1777 or early in '78. The overseers 
of the poor of North East Precinct held their annual meeting in May, 
1778. "at the house of the widow Bush," his widow. Joseph, one of the 
brothers, married Christina Weber, supposed to be one of this immigration. 
Weber (German) means weaver, referring to occupation, hence the modern 
Weaver is a corruption. A Christina Weber was sponsor to a baptism in 
.the Old Round Top church in 1760 and again in 1761. Joseph TerBush and 
Christina Weber settled on the Roloef Jansen in Columbia County, and 
their daughter, Hannah, married Robert Eddy, He was an Englishman 
and early in life was enlisted in a British fleet on Lake Champlain. After 
his marriage he settled and lived on the Henry Hoffman road east of the 
Benjamin Toms place where he probably deceased. The TerBush men 
were large and strong physically. Joseph, who lived a good deal in his 
latest years with his son-in-law, Robert Eddy, is now remembered by some 
of our oldest citizens as about six feet, four inches tall, and had a great 
fund of revolutionary war stories. The only lights for dwellings here in 
his boyhood was pine knots from the forests of pine on these plains, burnt 
in a big fire place. 

The following interview with the late Mrs. Eliza Wilson took place the 
day Gen. Garfield was shot, July 2, 1881 : 

"My father and mother first came here in 1798, and lived in a house on 
South street, standing on the site of the dwelling now owned by Mr. 
Chase, south of the Eno property. At that time all the dwellings in this 
village were the one my father lived in — which he had purchased — a small 
house and blacksmith shop adjoining us on the south, now the Stocking 
property, a frame building kept as a hotel on the Myers hotel site — now 
Stissing House ; a log house on the site of Mr. Ketterer's hotel, the Stephen 




Portion of Old Winchell and Hartwell Store (on the left.) Stissing 
Bank and part of Bowman's Drug Store (on the right.) 



138 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 



fino dwelling near the present Eno law office, a house on the site of the 
present John Sowe dwelling, one on Mrs. R. W. Bostwick's residence 
nearly opposite the present Methodist Church, the old part of the house Rev. 
W. N. Sayre now lives in, the John Turk House, near or on the site of the 
present public school house, the Capt. Benj. R. Bostwick house, on the 
site of the present Jonas Knickerbocker dwelling, one on the Dakin 
property next east of the Presbyterian, which David Dakin afterwards en- 
larged and lived in; the "Graham house" afterwards occupied by Mr. 
Brush, the Pells building on the corners, and the Booth dwelling a short 
distance west of the village. Ebenezer Dibblee had a store first in the 
Booth house, and and afterwards in the Pells building on the corners. His 
successors in this building was a partnership in merchandising of Henry 
Hoffman, Israel Reynolds, Aaron E. Winchell, and possibly some others. 
Mr. Winchell soon afterwards bought out the interests of the other part- 
ners and continued alone, Mr. Trowbridge, one time a landlord in the 
Ketterer hotel, had daughters Cynthia, Emeline. Clara and Amelia. Em- 
eline married Henry I. Traver, a justice of the peace. Clara married 
Abraham Parsons, deputy sheriff for some years. He lived in the old Cap- 
tain Bostwick house. His wife deceased and he moved to the hotel with 
his father-in-law, and afterwards married Amelia, sister to his first wife, 
and kept the hotel. Mr. Trowbridge went from there to Bangall, and 
some years afterward was in Salisbury, Conn., where he deceased." 

Mrs. Wilson was clear and positive in her memory and the town rec 
ords and other documents corroborate her recollections. 




CHAPTER XIV. 

CHURCHES — ROUND TOP. 

In religion, the Connecticut border settlers were either Episcopal, Con- 
gregational or Baptist and they early organized societies and built- 
churches as denominational views and financial ability gave choice and 
opportunity. Different from these the Hudson River colonists were Luth- 
erans and German Reformed, and to the churches of these denominations 
on the Hudson and at Clermont and Germantown they rightfully claimed 
and owed allegiance. To these, twenty miles and more, these early Pine 
Plains settlers went to church in the primitive pioneer manner, on horse- 
back holding a child in front, and one or more seated behind. Once on 
such a journey a settler from Carman's Mill, in the southeast part of the 
town, fording the Shacameco at the Rjsdorf farm, met with severe diffi- 
culty, and a child— surname Row — intended for baptism at the parent 
church, fell into the stream and was drowned. But in spite of accidents 
and inconveniences they kept up these church relations until about 1746, 
when the church known as "Old Round Top" — from the shape of its roof 
— was built at the present hamlet called "Bethel." This result was brought- 
into being or greatly stimulated by the Moravian Mission near there which 
was commenced in 1740 and continued with life and success until 1746. 
To this mission people often came from Rhinebeck to hear the missionaries 
and the audience often numbered two hundred. 

James Alexander, of New York, though not a patentee, became owner 
of several lots in the division — which was made about this time — of the 
Little Nine Partners and one of them was Lot 30 which contains the site 
of the Round Top church and burying ground. Johan Tice Smith, better 
known as Hontice Smith, and Michael Rowe — great grandfather of John 
and the late Wm. A. Rowe — were Lutherans and leading men in building 
the church, and before building obtained a verbal promise from James 
Alexander for a gift of one acre on Lot 30 for a Lutheran church and 
burying ground. The ground was selected, the church built and Mr. Al- 
exander died soon after, leaving his verbal promise unfulfilled. Years 
passed until 1769. Meanwhile Peter VanBrugh Livingston had married 
Mary Alexander, the accomplished and eldest daughter of James Alexan 
der — who twenty years later in 1789 as Mrs. Livingston was the honored 
partner of General Washington in a cotillion at the inauguration ball in 
New York of the first President of the United States— who became the 
proprietor of Lot 40 containing the church lot. Mr. Livingston fulfilled 



140 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

the promise of Mr. Alexander by giving a deed May 15, 1709. He was at 
that time an elder in the Presbyterian church in New York city. The 
deed now before me has not been recorded in the County record, so I give 
a full copy : 

"This indenture made the fifteenth day of May in the year of our Lord 
One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Nine between Peter VanBrugh 
Livingston of the city of New York, merchant, of the first part, and Johan 
Tice Smith and Michael Rough of the North East Precinct in the county of 
Dutchess in the colony of New York, yeomen, of the second part. Whereas 
the party of the first part has been informed that the Honorable James Al- 
exander, Esq. , deceased, did in his lifetime make a verbal promise to the 
people of the Lutheran persuasion that he would make a present to their 
congregation of about one acre of his part of Lot No. 30 in the Little Nine 
Partners in the north precinct of the County of Dutchess in the Province 
of New York for the erection of a church and supplying it with a cemete- 
ry, which by reason of his death not long afterwards it is said was not ful- 
filled, and whereas that part of Lot No. 30 which did belong to the said 
James Alexander, Esq. , deceased, is now owned by the said Peter Van- 
Brugh Livingston, who married the eldest daughter of the said James Al- 
exander, deceased, and being willing in honor of the memory of his father- 
in-law to carry said promise into execution, now This Indenture Witness- 
eth that the party of the first part in consideration of the pious and lauda- 
ble design aforesaid and of the rent, and of the conditions hereinafter re- 
served and contained, and for the further consideration of the sum of 
five shillings lawful money of New York now to him paid hath granted, 
bargained and sold and by these presents doth grant, bargain and sell unto 
the parties aforesaid of the second part and to their heirs and assigns for 
ever, all that certain piece or parcel of ground being part of the said Lot 
No. 30. Beginning at a stake and a heap of stones on the east side of the 
road thirty three links north of Johan Tise Smith's north line and runs 
from the said stake north twenty-three degrees east three chains and sev- 
enteen links, thence west eleven degrees forty minutes north three chains 
and seventeen links thence south twenty-three degrees and a half west 
three chains and seventeen links thence east eleven degrees forty minutes 
south three chains and seventeen links to the place of beginning contain- 
ing about one acre of ground and the reversion and reversions, remainder 
and remainders, with the appurtenances and all the estate right title and 
interest whatsoever of the party of the first part of in and to the same or 
any part thereof, to have and to hold the said piece of ground with the ap- 
purtenances unto the said parties of the second part their heirs and assigns 
forever under the conditions hereinafter peculiarly mentioned to wit: So 
as that the parties of the second part or either of them their or either of 
their heirs, executors, administrators or assigns or any of them shall and 
do within two years from the date of these presents inclose the said piece 
of ground above mentioned and hereby granted within a good and suffi- 
cient fence and keep the same forever hereafter in good repair, and erect a 
new edifice or church thereon or keep the old church in repair for the 
worship of the Almighty God as practiced by the Lutheran evangelical 
churches or use the same for a cemetery or church yard for the interment 
or burial of the dead and shall not appropriate, apply or convert the same 
at any time forever hereafter to private or secular uses. And under this 
further condition to wit, so as the aforesaid parties of the second part or 
either of them or either of their heirs, executors, administrators or assigns 
or any of them shall and do pay or cause to be paid unto the party of the 



THE CHURCHES. 141 

first part or to his heirs one ear of Indian corn on the first day of May next 
and on the first day of May in every year thence ensuing forever hereafter 
if lawfully demanded, that then this present Indenture and everything 
therein contained shall remain in its full force and virtue forever. But if 
it shall happen that the parties of the second part their heirs, executors, 
administrators or assigns shall not comply with the conditions above men- 
tioned or shall at at any time hereafter apply or convert the same to pri- 
vate or secular uses, that then and from thenceforth it shall and may be 
lawful to and for the party of the first part and his heirs into all and sin- 
gular the aforesaid premises with the appurtenances to reenter to him and 
them as their former estate and enjoy, this present writing or any thing in 
the some contained to the contrary notwithstanding, and the party of the 
first part for himself and his heirs doth covenant and grant to and with 
the parties of the second part their heirs, executors, administrators and as 
signs in manner following (that is to say) that they the parties of the sec- 
ond part their heirs and assigns paying the said yearly rent as aforesaid if 
demanded and the other conditions above mentioned being performed, 
shall and may from time to time and at all times forever hereafter peacea- 
bly and quietly enjoy the premises above mentioned without let or molest- 
ation of the party of the first part or and other person or persons lawfully 
claiming or to claim by, from or under him. 

In witness whereof the parties to these presents have herewith set 
their hands and seals the day and year first above written 

P. V. B. LIVINGSTON, [l. s.] 

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of David VanNess, Peter 
V. B. Livingston, Jr." 

Two pertinent facts are brought to light in this deed. First, that. 
the building was designed "for the worship of Almighty God as prac- 
tised by the Lutheran Evangelical churches." Thus it was a Lutheran 
church. The second pertinent fact is contained in the phrase "and erect 
a new edifice or church thereon, or keep the old church in repair." By 
this record we learn that at the date of this deed the church was consid- 
ered an old church. At the dedication of the Union Bethel church — which 
stands near by — in 1840 the Rev. Augustus Wackerhagen was present, and 
at the close of the dedicatory sermon by Rev. Jacob Berger, a Lutheran 
minister, the old man made some remarks, of which I remember this: 
"This," said he, "is a most interesting occasion. We stand on interesting 
ground. The providences of God are sometimes mysterious. It is a singu- 
lar fact that a hundred years ago a church was erected to the worship of 
Almighty God on this spot, and to-day after a century has passed we have 
dedicated another to His Most Holy Name." He could not have said this 
without some knowledge of the facts and facts probably obtained by his 
connection with the Lutheran churches on the Hudson. The Moravian 
Mission church about a mile distant was built of bark in 1743. These were 
the first church buildings built in this town 

The highway now runs through the land described in this deed and 
makes two cemeteries, one on either side of the road. The descendants of 
Michael Rowe have saved for and used the part east of the highway for 
their family burials and hence it is called the "Rowe Cemetery ," while that 



142 HISTORY OF PINE PLINAS. 

part of the original purchase west of the road has been used for a general 
burying ground, or free for all burials. The cemetery on the east side con- 
tains the site of the first church built about 1746, and the second, or 
"Round Top," built about 1780, which stood where the present monu- 
ment to William A. Rowe is erected. He was a descendant of Michael 
Rowe, one of the grantees in the deed, and this monument — probably 
without intent — singularly and appropriately also commemorates the site 
of the old churches, answering a double purpose. The church at the 
Moravian mission in this neighborhood was abandoned about 1746 and 
the mission broke up. While the mision lived — 1740 to 1746 — its church 
and preachers answered for the Palatine settlers, whether Lutheran or 
German Reformed. Some of the Rowe families, the Kiefer and Hontice 
Smith families are known to have fraternized with the Moravians, and 
hence so long as there was a church and preacher and regular service at 
the mission there was no need for another church. The need came when 
the Moravian laborers had departed, and they even then did not forget the 
mission ground but made occasional visits to this field for a number of 
years later. In 1753 Abraham Reinke, a Moravian, was sent by the 
"United Brethren" at Bethlehem, to preach to the white people in Sharon 
at their urgent request. This was a result of the Moravian mission near 
Sharon. Reinke also at this visit preached in Salisbury and at the Ob- 
long — probably the old Round Top church at Amenia Union — and in this 
Round Top church at Bethel, which was called "Nine Partners" and at 
Livingston Manor. This church was on the direct route from Sharon and 
Oblong to Livingston Manor. Reinke was eight weeks on this visit and 
"preached twenty times to large audiences sometimes numbering three 
hundred souls," and the historian adds "he was succeeded by other breth- 
ren." He had five times the number of hearers the churches in the same 
territory average to-day. 

The Palatine settlers on the Hudson were Lutherans or Calvinists — 
"German Reformed." At first both worshiped unitedly in one church — 
the old church at Pink's Corners — until 1728, when they denominationally 
-separated, the Lutherans selling their interest to the German Reformed 
and building a church about four miles distant known as the "Stone 
Church." Some extracts from the records of the parent churches — Luth- 
eran and German Reformed — at Rhinebeck give the church status of the 
ancestors of some of our town's early settlers. 

GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH — MEMBERSHIP. 
Peter Klein joined the church April 19, 1742, by letter. Leonard Sern- 
berger joined April 20, 1742. Jacob Melius April 2, 1743, and at same time 
Johannes Dings and John Peter Dings, and Jan. 2, 1742-3 Jacob Loucks, 
Gertrude Melius, Ann Melius, Catharine Melius, Eve Gertrude Dings, Anna 
Maria Dings. John Jacob Myer in 1745, John Coonrad Myer Oct. 12, 1749, 
■on confession of faith, Nicholas Stickle, Jun., Nicholas Rau, Jim., and 




EDWARD HUNTTiNG, 
[See Lineage.] 



144 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

John Peter Klein April 5, 1749, William Weber and wife, Anna Maria Klein, 
May 15, 1751, Jacob Pulver, Johannes Klein and Andreas Stickle May 18, 
1752, Coonrad Turk Aug. 25, 1754, Anna Margaret Rauh Dec. 21, 1755, 
Andreas Richter Oct. 8, 1756, Catherine Pulver, Margaret Pulver and 
Catharine Stickle May 18, 1752. William Richter united in April, 1765. 

BAPTISMS (SAME CHURCH). 
Susanna, dau. of Nicholas Stickle and Margaret Drom, 1731, witnesses 
Peter Polver and Susanna Drom. Gerhardt, son of Christian Deidrick and 
Anna Maria Winnegar, May 21, 1739, witnesses Gerhardt Winnegar and 
Anna Catharine Winnegar ; Frederick, son of Nicholas Stickle and Catha- 
rine Keifer, bap. Jan. 17, 1773: Frederick, son of Jost Baur and Elizabeth 
Maul, April 21, 1765 ; Zachariah, son of Nicholas Stickle and Anna Bone- 
steel, bap. March 14, 1790, witnesses John Bonesteel and Catharine 
Sernberger, 

MARRIAGES (SAME CHURCH). 
Andreas Stickle, son of Nicholas, m. Elizabeth Pitcher, of Rhinebeck, 
Feb. 14, 1758 ; Josh Baur, son of Michael, born in Baden, Germany, m. 
Elizabeth Maul, Feb. 28, 1758; Henry Pulver, son of Michael Pulver, m. 
Ann Shaver, dau. of Valentine Shaver, May 16, 1758; Jacob Loucks, wid- 
ower, m. Ann Streibel, dau. of Jacob Streibel of Wirtemberg, 1759. John 
Klein, son of Johan Peter Klein of Rhinebeck, m. Rosina Schneider, dau. 
of Christopher Schneider, Sept. 11, 1759 ; Johannes Stickle, son of Nicholas 
Stickle, m. Elizabeth Behm, Dec. 2, 1766 ; Wilhelmus Richter m. Marga- 
ret Kohl Nov. 19, 1769. 

ELDERS (SAME CHURCH). 

Wendal Polver 1740, Johannes Peter Klein 1741, Michael Polver 1741, 
Nicholas Stickle 1745, Johannes Richter 1747, Michael Polver (deacon) 1747, 
John Peter Klein 1757, Michael Polver 1757, Jacob Maul 1758; Johannes 
Richter 1762. 

ST. PETER'S LUTHERAN CHURCH. (BAPTISMS.) 

.4 

Eva, dau. of Frederick and Rebecca Klein bap. July, 1750. Johannes, 
son of William Tanner and Eva his wife bap. May 4, 1749 from Ancram. 
William son of Johannes and Elizabeth Richter, born Nov. 23, 1748, bap. 
Dec. 25, 1748. Susanna, dau. of Balthasar Lot and wife Elizabeth, bap. 
Jan. 1747 ; witnesses Nicholas Rauh and Susanna, his wife. Anna Richter, 
dau. of John Richter and wife Elizabeth, born Jan. 2, 1736, bap. Jan. 7, 
1736 ; witnesses Andreas Richter and his wife Anna Elizabeth. Maria 
Rau, dau. of John Rau and Catharine his wife, born March 13, 1735, bap. 
April 13, 1735. [^ t ote. — This was the Moravian John Rauh.] Susanna, 
dau. of Peter Richter and Elizabeth his wife, born Aug. 13, 1734, bap. 
Aug. 20, 1734 ; witnesses Peter Polver and wife, Susanna, Peter Rau, son 
of Michael and Anna Maria Rau, born Dec. 14, 1733, bap. March 2, 1734. 
Catharine, dau. of Coonrad Winnegar and wife Catharine, born Nov. 10, 
1733 ; Margaret, dau. of John Jacob Melius and wife Anna Maria, born 



THE CHURCHES. 145 

Nov. 3, 1735, bap. Feb. 16, 1735 ; witnesses John Jacob Dings and wife 
Gertrude. Christina, dan. of Cponrad Silveinagel and wife Catharine "from 

Stissings," born Oct. 26, 1750, bap. , sponsors, Andreas Schmidt and 

Christina Silvernagel. Simon, son of Jacob and Catharine Melius, born 
July 30, 1751, bap. " at Ancram " Aug. 20, 1751. Johannes Richter and 
Elizabeth were witnesses to a baptism Nov. 2j!, 1751. Nicholas, son of 
Frederick and Gertrude Stickle, bap. Feb. 21, 17G4 ; Nicholas Stickle and 
wife Margaret, witnesses. Catharine, dan. of Nicbolas and Anna Rau, 
bap. Jan. 14, 1701. Jacob, son of dlrick and Margaret Striebel, bap. 
March, 5. 1762. Leonard, son of Henriek and Maria Keefer, bap. Oct, 9, 
1762; Maria, dau. of David and Catharine Rundall, bap. Jan. 5, 1783. 
MARRIAGES (SAME CHURCH.) 
Henrich and J Eelena Smith were married April 20, 1749. Peter Klein 
and Pheronia Myer, m. 1752. Rev. John Christopher Hartwick married a 
couple from " Stissing in Dutchess County," March 15, 1756. The same 
minister married Nicholas Smith, (son of Johantice Smith, of "Stissing" ) 
and Catharine Rhau, dau. of Michael Rhau, 1751. 

COMMUNICANTS. 

Henry Winnegar and Margaret Younkhans were communicants in 
Ancram in 1746. Matthew Younkhans was a communicant there in 1747. 
John Henry Hoffman was a communicant in Ancram in 1749, and Michael 
Rau, Frederick Rau, and Catharine Rau, were communicants there in 1750. 
Johannes Richter and Elizabeth and Jacob Polver were confirmed by Rev. 
Johannes Spaller, between 1733 and '36. The Rev. Johannes Spaller was 
the Lutheran minister at this Rhinebeck Lutheran church from 1723 to 
1736 but there are no records until 1733 — the old church divided in 1729 — 
leaving only from 1733 to 1736 for the record of Mr. Spaller, from 1736 to 
1746 there is no record, a gap of ten years. In 1746 Rev. John Christopher 
Hartwick became pastor and continued in that relation until 1758. Two 
years now pass without a settled pastor. In March, 1760, Rev. Johannes 
Frederick Ries became pastor and continued in this relation until January, 
1783. In May 1784, Rev. George Heinrich Pfeiffer became pastor and 
remained such until January 1798, 

The record of the German Reformed church heretofore mentioned is not 
so regular as the Lutheran. It begins in 1730. The church was organized 
in 1734 but no settled pastor until 1742 when Dominie Weiss became pastor 
and continued until 1746. Rev. Casper Ludwig Schnoor was his successor 
and he was succeeded by others until 1755 when Rev. Johan Casper Rubell 

became pastor. He remained four years, when Rev. Marcius succeeded 

until 1762 or '63. Then in 1763 Rev. Gerhardt Daniel Koch became pastor, 
and continued in this relation until 1791. 

By comparing the dates of baptisms and other church ministrations in 
the respective church records above, with the time of service of the minis- 



146 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

ters in their respective churches, f amilies.interested may get a start for the 
church record of their ancestry. Further examination in this line how- 
ever would probably be necessary for success. But these references and 
extracts — which are only picked out here and there — are intended at this 
time for a broader and more general historical purpose. They explain the 
otherwise inexplainable, how it came to pass that the same parents and 
adult children seem to be identified to both churches. In infant baptisms 
for instance, at one time Lutheran at another German Reformed in the 
same family, and the same of communicants, the same person at different 
times in either church. It seems a better < Christianity then existed among 
these people than at a later time when church ordinances were circum- 
scribed by inside church doors and inside walls. Better to be baptized 
by a Lutheran, then thought a German Reformed than no baptism, and the 
same on the other side. This is fast becoming the sentiment of the 
Christian. The cause of this mixed record —let me call it such — seems to 
be the irregular ministerial supply — vacancies gaps of years more or less — 
in the respective churches. These people liked their dominie. He was 
part of the family, a member of the household, and yet above him was 
conscience and duty, and these to be satisfied only in action. Do some- 
thing, but let that something be the right thing to do. 80 a Lutheran 
dominie being absent, the next best something was a German Reformed. 
This is the creed of a truly Christian conscience. 
CHURCHES — ROUND TOP. 

Rev. John Christopher Hartwick, successor to the Rev. Mr. Spaller in 
the Rhinebeck Lutheran church, became its pastor in 1740, the year of the. 
close, substantially, of the Moravin mission near Bethel. He probably 
was the first preacher in the first Round Top church at Bethel. He may 
have administered baptisms there, but most likely the people in that 
vicinity went to his church in Rhinebeck for that purpose where they were 
received, in some instances, as "from Stissing. " It is on record however 
in the Lutheran church book at Rhinebeck, that he preached during his 
pastorate — 1746 to 1758 — in Ancram and administered baptisms and com- 
munion there In 1746 he records six baptisms in Ancram, in '47 two, in 
'48 two, in '49 two, and in '50 ten. In 1746, the first year of his pastorate, 
he administered the Lord's Supper to twenty persons in Ancram, and this 
special service was continued there many years later if not to the close of 
his term. Some of the names mentioned as connected with these services 
in Ancram are familiar as residents at that time in this town. Mr. Hart- 
wick made an effort at that time to build a church in Ancram and a con- 
siderable sum of money was subscribed but the plan was never consum- 
mated. He records 392 baptisms, 60 marriages and 34 confirmations in 
the Rhinebeck church. At the close of his pastorate, two years pass with 
out a regular pastor. Its next Lutheran minister w T as Rev. Johannes 
Frederick Ries, who became pastor in March, 1760. He was a zealous and 



THE CHURCHES. 147 

earnest worker, preaching at what is known as Wurtemburg, southeast 
from Rhinebeck, at the Gerinantown church, at Churehtown, at Livings- 
ton Manor and at the first Round Top in Pine Plains. Contemporaneous 
with the commencement of the pastorate of Dominie Ries in the Lutheran 
Church at Rhinebeck — 1700 — commences a record relating to the services 
held at Round Top, which record continued until 1772, when a book was 
bought and a copy of this record written in. ( The original record from 
1760 to 1772 has probably been destroyed.) This book is at my hand and 
is eight by twelve inches, about one inch thick, bound with what appears 
to be buckskin, and composed of the old-time, regal-stamped blank paper. 
It is a record of baptisms and communicants and continues from 1772 
when the book was purchased to 1778. It came to me from a danghter of 
Capt. Henry Strever, who deceased many years ago, and whose family 
and ancestors were Lutherans. The fly leaf heads with " In Nomen Jesu. 
Copia aus dem KirchenBuck von Anno Christi 1760 bis 1772," which may 
be rendered " In the name of Jesus. Copy of the Church Book from the 
year of Christ 1760 to 1772." From the names recorded it is evidently a 
Lutheran record and the original record was probably instituted by 
Dominie Ries. His pastorate of the Lutheran church at Rhinebeck closed 
in 1783, but he continued to preach in Germantown, Livingston and 
Churehtown until his death in 1791. He was very popular as a minister. 
He baptized 815 children during his pastorate, and at a communion in 
1783, the close of the revolutionary war, one hundred and fifty persons 
partook of the Sacraments. His successor was Rev. George Heinrich 
Pfeiffer, who commenced in 1784 and probably under him the old record 
before us is made from 1784 to its close in 1788, except the year, 1787, 
which is a record made by Rev. Heinrich Miller from "Albany and Lunen- 
berg " — now Athens. The record is irregular as to chronological dates 
from its commencement in 1760 to 1772, which indicates a somewhat 
fragmentary original to copy from. Probably it was a few sheets of paper 
loosely put together, and had become much torn and defaced at the end 
of twelve years, handling. The first baptism was March 4, 1760. James, 
son of James Hettie and his wife Nellie, witnesses Weinand Weber and 
N. Silbernaglin, (Silvernail. ) The name "Weber "in this record is the 
modern Weaver, and Striebel— Stribel, is the modern Strever. Nicolas 
Schmidt and wife Catharine had a son Andreas, baptized Sep. 14, 1760, 
witnesses Andreas Rauh and Elizabeth Junghans. Dec. 10, Henrich 
Winnegar and wife Magdalena had a son Henrich baptized. March 4, 1761, 
Conrad Winnegar and wi£e Anna Maria had a daughter Susanna baptized, 
witnesses were Nicolaus Rauh and wife Susanna. These Winnegar 
families lived at this time near Amenia Union, in Amenia, and the 
witness Nicolaus Rauh above, was the eldest son of Moravian John Rauh. 
He ( Nicolaus ) lived at Amenia Union and his wife was Susanna Win- 
negar. The church relations of these families were Lutheran and this 



148 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

at Round Top was the nearest. Twenty baptisms are recorded to June 4, 
1763, when the first communion took place. The following are recorded 
communicants : Michael Rauh and wife Anna Maria, Hanteis Schmidt 
and Maria Susanna, Mattheus Janghans and Margaretha, Iienrich Hoff- 
mann and Magdalena, Weinand Weber and Maria Catharina, Philip 
Kautzmann and wife Regina. The next communion was April 18, 1764. 
The communicants were Tice Miller and wife Apollonia ( in another place 
it is written Johan Teus Miller ) William Mayer and wife Maria, Gottfried 
Tederer and Catharina, Mattheus Junghans and Margaretha, Michael Rauh 
and Anna Maria, Johann Jacob Hubsch and Anna Maria. These are put 
down as married, then follow single names at this same date also com- 
municants : Anna Maria Owen, Frederick Rauh, Conrad Schmidt, Jurgen 
Mayer, Henrick Winnegar, Elizabeth Schneider, Anna Winnegar, Maria 
Sornberger, Sophia Rauh, Elizabeth Weber, Clara Mackentesch, she was 
Clara Jonkhance wife of Alexander Mcintosh, Catharine Meckentheier, 
Elizabeth Junghans, Christina Neberen, Eva Finckel, Eva Gertje Miller, 
Catharine Wilsen, Philip Nees, ( Nase ) Maria Uttilia Nees, Elizabeth 
Lothin, Margaret Bartel, Maria Ablerin. Total thirty-four. Some names 
are recorded twice in the list of communicants, evidently an error in copy- 
ing from the original record. The duplicate names I have counted as one 
person, unless the evidence is positive to the contrary. 

Thirty ime baptisms are then recorded to the next communion — "Am 
Tag der Himelfarth Christi" — in 1766. At this time there were forty-four 
communicants. Twenty one baptisms are then recorded to the next com- 
munion in 17(58. The married communicants at this time were Johantice 
Smith and wife, Henry Hoffman and wife Magdalena, Frederick Rauh and 
wife Barbara. Michael Lott and wife Elizabeth, Michael Rauh and wife 
Anna Maria, Balthasar Kiefer and wife Christina, Philip Henry Kuntz and 
wife, Elizabeth. The single names are Johannes Rauh, Henry Junghans, 
Philip Nase, Anna Maria Rauh, Margaret Junghans, Jurgen Junghans. Maria 
Sornberger, Elizabeth Lott, Susanna Lott, Elizabeth Schneider. Anna Winne- 
gar, Mattheus Junghans, Henry Junghans. Sophia Rauh, Margaret Kuhn, 
Catharine Wihler, Flora Gree, Maria Alberin. The communicants at this 
time for the first time "(Zum erstenmahl)" were Philip Rauh, Henry Weber, 
■Henry Munsen, Catharine Rauh, Elizabeth Rauh, Anna Silvernail, Sara 
Junghans. Total, thirty-nine. This communion season appears to have 
been in May, and the baptisms for that year are recorded afterward, twen- 
ty-one in all, and thirteen in 1769, when another communion is recorded for 
-that year. There were 25 at this communion. In 1770 there were two 
seasons of communion. At one there were twenty-five communicants, at 
the other sixty-two. (This may be two communions.) There were eleven 
baptisms in 1770, one of whom — May 4 — was Elizabeth, daughter of Andreas 
Richter and wife Eva. having Johannes Richter and wife Elizabeth for 
sponsors. In 1771 there were eleven baptisms, among them were Andreas 



THE CHURCHES. 149 

and Gertrude — January 24 — children of Andreas Pulver and wife Eva 
Link. In 1772 a communion is recorded when thirty-seven were present. 
One baptism is recorded for that year which is the end of the "copy*' from 
the "church book."' The record of the church then becomes original in 
this book and is continued to 1788. In 1772 there are six baptisms, in '73, 
five. At a communion on Ascension day in 1773, thirty-two names are 
recorded; eighteen at a communion in 1774, and thirty-one in 1775. There 
were fifteen baptisms in 1774, four in 1775, and one in '76.' Then there is 
no record until 1780, This break may have been caused in part by the 
commencement of the revolutionary war. Three baptisms are recorded in 
1780, nineteen in '81, four in '82, twenty-one in '83, nine in '84. nineteen in 
'85, seventeen in '86, twenty-five in '87 and ten in 1788. Three of the bap- 
tisms for 1787 and the ten in 1788, were performed by Rev. Hendrick Mil- 
ler, who was pastor at "Albany and Loonberg" — now Athens. The bap- 
tisms by him in 1787 took place on the twenty-first of August, and those in 
1788 on the twenty first of September. There are no records after his bap- 
tisms in 1788. The next communion after 1775 — already mentioned — was 
on "Pinkster"' — Pentecost — May 19; thirty were present. The next was 
June 8, 1783, when there were thirty-eight communicants. The next was 
May 23, 1784, when sixty-seven names are on the list of communicants. 
(This list rs probably for two communions. ) The next was May 22, 1785, 
when there were thirty-one. The next was June 18, 1789, with forty-one 
names, and May 20, 1787, was the last communion on record in this book, 
when forty-one names are put down as communicants. Of these, eight 
have the modern surname Streever and six Hoffman. Among the com- 
municants in 1784, eight were Streever, five Hoffman, five Eowe, five 
Sornberger, five Kiefer and two Silvernail. These are prominent names 
among the communicants from first to last. Henry Hoffman and wife 
Magdalena are at the first communion in June, 1763, and they are present 
at nearly every communion including the last one in 1787. Johantice 
Smith and wife Maria Susanna were present at the first communion. 
Michael Rauh and wife Anna Maria, were present at the second commun- 
ion in April, 1774. She does not appear after 1775, but he is present in 
1787. Johantice Smith and Michael Rovve above were the grantees in the 
deed of the church property in 1769 — Hontice Smith, whose wife was 
Phebe Wilson, who lived on the Phenix Deuel place, was a son of the 
above. [Note. — In Round Top Cemetery are two headstones bearing re- 
spectively these inscriptions: "In memory of Mr, Hendrick Hoffman, 
who departed this life Feb. 4, 1789, in the 70 year of his age." "In mem- 
ory of Mrs. Sibbell M. (Magdalena,) wife to Mr. Hendrick Hoffman who de- 
parted this life July 26, 1805, aged 83." Mr. Hoffman died two years after 
his last recorded communion in Round Top.] The names Ciapp, Dusen- 
berry, Conrad Smith, Nase and Rowe, belong to the Andreas Rowe neigh- 
borhood near the old Carman Mill. The Nase family later moved to 



150 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Amenia. The Kiefer family is prominent in this church record. Hendrick 
Kiefer lived on what is now Schultz Hill. Forty years before this the Mora- 
vians called that hill "Hendrickson's Mountain." All these families were 
Lutherans. Two hundred and ninety four infant baptisms are recorded in 
this book and the communion seasons average each about thirty-two per- 
sons. This indicates a high state of church interest for Round Top Luth- 
eran Church from 1760 to 1788, an interest not heretofore supposed or 
known, and never would have been, had it not been for this old book. 
That this early church work should not be lost and forgotten is why I have 
taken so much from this old book. It is now a wandei - er, but should have 
a home with the records of the old Lutheran Church (St. Peter's) at 
Rhinebeck. 

George Heinrick Pfeiffer was successor to Dominie Ries in the old 
Lutheran church at Rhinebeck, commencing m 178-1 and ending in '97 or '8- 
He probably preached at Pound Top during these years excepting the two 
occasions referred to of Henry Miller, of Albany, who preached here August 
21, 1787, and Sept. 21, ITSS, baptizing three children the first year and 10 in 
1788. Dominie Miller appears to have recorded his own baptisms, and the 
other baptisms of the same years and back to 1784 are probably those of 
Pfeiffer. The next minister to Round Top was Rev. Dr. Frederick H. 
Quitman, the ancestor of the celebrated Quitmans, of American note. 
Gen. Quitman, once governor of Mississippi, was his son by a first wife. 
A daughter of his by a second wife married Rev. Augustus Wackerhagen, 
who preached at Pine Plains within the memory of many now living. Dr. 
Quitman became pastor at Rhinebeck in 1798. and we have it from very 
old people that he preached at Round Top in the early years of this cen- 
tury previous to 1815 when the -'Meeting House" — now Presbyterian 
church— was built at Pine Plains and then in that meeting house later on, 
the Lutherans having one quarter interest in the church. This drew 
away the interest in Round Top as a special center. Indeed before that 
time it was used by other denominations. John Culver, a pioneer Metho- 
dist preacher in this vicinity licensed about 1790, often preached there 
before and after 1815. In 1872 he preached two hours with great effect 
from the text "Curse ye Meroz said the angel of the Lord, curse ye 
bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not up to the help of 
the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. " It was a war 
sermon , On another occasion he preached from ' ' old things have passed 
away and all things have become new." 

These various church services from this time on became less frequent 
and less in attendance. The early members of the church had passed 
away and their descendants drifted naturally to the growing business 
center of the town, the village of Pine Plains. The clapboards of the old 
second church — it was 30 by 40 feet with 18 feet posts and was never 
" finished off inside," benches for seats — were getting loose and some had 



THE CHURCHES. l51 

fallen. A subscription paper dated March 21, 1826," reads : "We the 

subscribers promise t<> pay unto Matthias Hoffman and Jobn P. Rowe the 
several sums to which our names are annexed, to be by them applied for 
the purpose of repairing the meeting bouse called the round top meeting 
bouse south of Charles Iloag's. The said house when completed is to be 
free to be used as a bouse of worship for all persuasions and denominations 
indiscriminately." The subscribers are Andrew Smith 10 dollars, Henry 
Hoffman 25, Matthias Hoffman 10, Aaron E. Winchell 10, Niles Hartwell 
3, Cornelius Allerton 2, Samuel Russel 1, Walter Mead 5, Charles Johnston 
3, Joshua Culver 5, Henry Kiefer 5, John Strever 10, Cornelius Husted 4. 
The old church bad substantial friends now ten years after the " Union 
Meeting House " at Pine Plains bad been built. Ninety-three dollars was 
the total amount subscribed, but the repairs were never made. The next 
year — 1827— the clapboards remaining on were torn off, the frame taken 
down and the timber sold at auction. Henry Hoysradt. then living about 
two* and a half miles north-east from Pine Plains, purchased a portion of 
the timber which be subsequently used in building a barn, which is now 
standing. 

Evidently Round Top was widely known in its day. It served its time 
for a good purpose, and its burial ground was the only public one then in the 
present town. The turf is now sunken where once was "many a mouldering 
heap," and the low rough stones are many and close together. Some are 
silent mourners of the unknown and forgotten, and on others are inscribed 
the legends pertaining to great great-grandfathers. But who can tell how 
many country funerals without pomp or heraldry or "trappings of 
affected woe " were held in, that old church, and the dead buried in the 
yard thereto with a short stick for a marker long since gone and the grave 
now as though it had never been. These were the "always with you." 
There too lie the church fathers, Hoffman, Rowe and Smith, and many 
brethren of other families and names. Let their little dust there sleeping- 
Lethe be — no, say not that, it is not forgotten for good deeds never die. 
But alike to all, that great strainer "transition" — prevents earthy gold 
and all it brings, and all tilings earthly., from entering the land Elysium 
where naught exists but bodiless thought, spirit immortal, eternal. 
CHURCHES — RED CHURCH AT PCLVER'S. 

The German Reformed and Lutheran elements came with the Pala- 
tines in their immigration to this country and settlement on the Hudson, 
where at first they worshiped in one church near Rhinebeck and later 
divided in 1 729, the Lutherans selling their interest in the church property 
to the German Reformers. This has been hereinbefore referred to. 
Later, upon the breaking up of " The Camp," these denominational differ- 
ences came with these people to this town, when at first both used the 
Round Top church. The principal persons as Lutherans interested in 



152 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

this church have been mentioned. The verbal promise of James Alex- 
ander — probably made to Johantice Smith and Michael Rowe — that the 
land donated should be for a Lutheran church, shut out all present and 
prospective interest from the German Reformers. Indeed, if there were 
yet a living hope for them, the deed in 1769 effectually and forever ex- 
tinguished it. So three years after this in 1772 the Reformers built a 
church on the ' Pulver farm," about two miles east of Pine Plains on the 
road to Salisbury on the present Herman Pulver farm. The church was 
painted red and was known as the "red church" and later as the "old 
red church." Prominent among the German Reformers in that neighbor- 
hood were the ancestral names Polver, Stickle, Richter, Melius, and 
Schneider. All these names appear occasionally — not often — on the 
Round Top Lutheran record. "Polver" is a staunch old name among the 
German Reformers. It is one of the earliest. "Wandel Polver " was one 
of four on behalf of the German Reformers to complete the sale and 
division -of the first Palatine church in Rhinebeck in 1729. By these 
families and their influence the church was built. Alexander Mcintosh — 
who married Clara Younkhans and lived on the Samuel S. Tanner farm — 
it is said went to Albany on foot in 17G0 for the communion service used 
in this chuich. This tradition as to date is probably correct, but this 
communion service was bought for the Lutheran Round Top church. 
This purchase was made twelve years before the red church was built. 
Furthermore the record of Round Top commenced at this date — 1760 — and 
the service of the Lord's Supper immediately follows when there was need 
for these communion pieces, and they were repeatedly used. It is very 
probable that this communion service fell to the German Reformers when 
they left the Round Top church and went into their own church. This 
supposition is furthermore sustained by the fact that there has never been 
found any communion service among the descendants of the Round Top 
fathers. No other relics would have been so carefully preserved had they 
come to their keeping. No record of this German Reformed church is 
known to me, and it is doubtful if there ever was one. Its denominational 
preachers were from the parent chuich at Rhinebeck. Rev. Gerhard 
Daniel Koch was pastor of the German Reformed church at Rhinebeck 
from 1773 to 1791, and he was the first preacher of that denomination in 
the old Red Church. Hence it was called "Koch's meeting house." In 
1784, when North East was yet a Precinct— before it became a town — 
John White, Philip Spencer and William Stewart were commissioners of 
highways and they "alter and lay out a certain part of ihe Salisbury road 
two rods wide beginning at the brook east of Mr. Koch's meeting house 
and running along the line between Andreas Stickle and John White until 
it falls into the old road again." Mr. Koch's pastorate closed in 1791, and 
he was succeeded by Mr. Schefer, and others until 1802, when Valentine 
Rudiger Fox became pastor and preached until abort 1823. These were 



THE CHURCHES. 153 

probably tbe regular denominational preachers in this church. Other 
ministers we are told preached there in the same periods. Meanwhile the 
German Reformed church at Greenbush, known later — about 1808 — as the 
"Vedder church," was growing stronger — it having been organized 
several years earlier than this — and absorbed to a considerable extent the 
German Reformed element in this society. In addition to tins the church 
interest in Pine Plains village was becoming more popular, the place being 
a commercial center, and hastened the end of the old Red church. It was 
taken down about 182(5. Like Round Top it was never finished off inside, 
but never attained to the usefulness and notoriety of that church. The 
communion service went to the family of Nicholas Pulver, and was sub- 
sequently sold in settlement of his estate. Some of the pieces are yet in 
the possession of some of our town residents. The church site, including 
the cemetery, was one acre north of the road and only a few head 
stones are left to mark the site once enclosed by a stone wall, now nearly 
leveled to the ground. In 1880 I copied from the headstones there the 
following inscriptions : " In memory of Mr. Peter Pulver he died May 
29, 1794, in the 8G year of his age. Susannah wife to Mr. Peter Pulver 
who died March 24, 1790 A. E. 75. Margaret daughter to Mr. and Mrs. 
Peter Pulver she died June 1792 A. E. ( obliterated ). Joseph son to Isaac 
and Elizabeth Hill, he died Feb. 22, 1791 aged 2. 

Farewell our lovely son 
We bid a short adieu. 
You cannot come to us 
But we must come to you." 

Abraham Bockee and wife Maria it is said were buried there, and 
were subsequently removed to the Smith burial ground at the Federal 
Square. He died Jan. 22, 177G, aged 59. She died Jan. 28, 1776, aged 61, 
four years after the church was built. 

OLD CHURCH AT ATTLEBURY. 

Contemporaneous with these early churches but not so early, was a 
church building in the northern part of Stanford, about a quarter of a 
mile east from Attlebury corners. The building was painted red, and 
built in a plain rough way. There was no denominational organization or 
society, the building being for the accommodation of neighborhood 
settlers on funeral occasions and religious meetings. It was much in use, 
as the burials in the public or church cemetery nearby testify. Its nearby 
supporters were Thomas Braman, Israel Lewis, Daniel Lewis and Ebenezer 
Husted. These were men of wealth, and foremost of these in the church 
interest was Thomas Braman. In the earliest years of this century the 
Methodists used it more than any other denomination, commencing with 
1800, when David Pitt Candel, a Methodist preacher, held a quarterly meet- 



154 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

ing. Later and by turns, Thomas Ingraham and Peter Powers, and other 
Methodist brethren from Amenia, held meetings there. The building fell 
down or was taken down about 1832, near the time when the old churches 
in Pine Plains ceased to be. 

CHURCHES — QUAKER MEETING HOUSE AT BETHEL. 
Charles Hoag w T as the principal originator in the establishment of thia 
society and church. He was a Quaker and was settled in 1799 on the farm 
now owned and occupied by Henry Keefer at Bethel, where the Quaker 
meeting house was built. Among his associate Quakers living in that vi- 
cinity and within go-to-meeting distance thereof at this time' and a few 
years later, were Michael Wanzer and father, Daniel Weaver and family, 
John Ellison, son of Thomas Ellison, Ezra Biyan and family, Abner Case 
and family, Phebe Corbin, Richard Carman and family, John Tweedy, 
who lived in Ancram, and came to meeting twice a week, Jeptha Wilbur, 
and daughter after the "Little Nine Partner" society— now Milan— ci ased 
to have meetings, Isaac Reynolds and wife, Mrs. John Reynolds, Edmund 
Reynolds and wife, Jacob Downing, Mrs. Daniel Lewis, Benjamin (or 
Ephraim) Mosher, who owned the Harris Grinding works, Thomas Griffin, 
Gerardus Winans, Friend Sheldon, George Sheldon and Anthony Briggs. 
There were probably other families, and in all enough to form a strong 
society, but without a leader until Charles Hoag came and was "allowed" 
to hold meetings at his house. The parent society, or the one that had 
jurisdiction ecclesiastical, was at Stanfordville, which had lately been set 
off about 1803, either from "The Creek" society — now Clinton Corners — or 
from the "Nine Partners" at Mechanic in this county. A committee had 
been appointed to look after these meetings held at Charles Hoag's, either 
from the Creek or Nine Partner society, and at the first monthly meeting 
held at Stanfordville, the "23d of 4th month, 1803," they say "most of the 
committee appointed to attend the meeting allowed at Charles Hoag's re- 
port in conjunction with the women that they rave attended thereto so far 
to their satisfaction, that they feel freedom to propose the continuance 
thereof under the care of a suitable committee, which, claiming the atten- 
tion of the meeting, the proposition is united with, and having the concur- 
rence of the women herein, allows them to hold a meeting flu-re for three 
months on the first and fourth days of the week, except preparation, 
monthly and quarterly meeting weeks. Charles Column, John Guerney, 
Abraham Guerney, Maurice Caiman, Henry Hoag, Daniel Lawrence, Oba- 
diah Quimby and Isaac Deuel are appointed to visit and report their 
satisfaction when the time for holding has expired." At this meeting Ezra 
Bryan sent a request to become a member. This founded and established 
"The North East Society" of Friends. The three months passed, and on 
the '23d day of 7th month, 18i)3," the committee reported and "allowed 
them to hold a meeting there (Charles Hoag's), as usual for six months, to 
commence next fourth day. Richard Carman, Ephraim Mosher, Joseph 



o 




156 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Underwood, Jethro Coleman, Nathaniel Mead, Edward Southwick are 
separated to visit it and inform their satisfaction on "first month next." 
Six months passed, and on "21st of 1st month, 1804," the committee "report 
they have attended that meeting to pretty good satisfaction and that 
friends there desire it may he continued. After a deliberation, and having 
the concurrence of the women, wo allow a meeting to be held there as 
usual for six months. Henry Hull, John Hull, John Guerney, David 
Cookingham, Benjaman Thorne and Charles Coleman are separated to 
visit it and inform their satisfaction in the "seventh month next." At this 
date and meeting the "Stanford preparative meeting informs that Charles 
and Betsey Hoag are desirous that their children, viz., Anna, James, Hen- 
ry and John, may be received into membership with Friends. After a 
time of consideration and with the unity of the women we admit them 
members." On "21st of 7th month,' the six months after it had expired, the 
committee reported and allowed a meeting to be held for another six months 
Joseph Underwood, Jethro Coleman, Daniel Lawrence, Morris Carman, 
George Cookingham, Zachariah Mosher, Paul Hoag and Benjamin Thorne 
were the committee, and at the end of six months they report the meet- 
ing be "allowed" for another six months and the report to be made "on 
next 7th month" (1805). Charles Coleman, Nathan Smith, Richard Carman, 
Joseph Underwood, Abraham Gurney and John Hull, were the com- 
mittee to report at the end of the six months, and on the " 18th of the 1st 
month," 1806, they report this: "The committee except one appointed 
in 7th month last to visit the meeting held at Charles Hoag's in North 
East town, now report in conjunction with the women that they have 
attended that meeting to a good degree of satisfaction. After a time of 
consideration thereon and Friends expressing their prospects, having the 
concurrence of the woman's meeting, the meeting is allowed as heretofore, 
the term of six months. Maurice Carman, Zachariah Mosher, F. Hull, 
John Gurney, Philip Hoag, Nathan Smith ami Benjamin Thorne are 
appointed to visit it as frequent as way may open and report 7th month 
next their sense thereon, with the propriety of a preparative meeting held 
there. And the Friends of that meeting suggest to the consideration of 
this, the propriety of building a house for them to meet in to stand near 
the place where the meeting is now held, and propose the size, 26 by 22 
feet with 12 feet posts, estimated cost 140 pounds. After Friends express- 
ing their prospects thereon it resulted in appointing Charles Coleman, 
Benjamin Thorne. John Hull and Zachariah Mosher to confer with the 
Friends there to consider the size and estimated cost with the relative cir- 
cumstances attending the building a house in that place, and to offer such 
advice and encouragement to forward the building as they may think 
proper and report to next meeting." Charles Hoag was clerk of this 
meeting. On the "19th of 4th month," 1806, the building committee say 
" the Friends who were appointed trustees to the building, a meeting 



THE CHURCHES. ' L52 

house in North East, inform that on paying attention to that business and 
more maturely considering the plan and size of the house, and the Friends 
there being invited with them, they propose that the house be built 30 by 
26 feet and 10 feet posts as it is calculated to be built with the same 
expense first estimated, and the room to be more convenient. The meet- 
ing appears willing to leave them with the Friends there at liberty to build 
it as they propose with this restriction, that they make no additional 
expense to this meeting." 

The proposed change to 30 by 20 feet, with 10 foot posts, was adopted, 
and the house was commenced very soon after the date of this report — 
April 19, 1806 — and completed by June 20, ISO?. On this date the building 
committee or trustees make this report at Stanford monthly meeting: 
" The Friends heretofore appointed trustees to the building a meeting 
house in North East now inform that they have attended thereto and that 
the house is as far completed as is expected at present, and that they have 
taken a deed for the lot of land belonging thereto as directed. Charles 
Hull, Solomon Vail, John Peckham, Isaac Vail. Samuel Carpenter and 
Edward Hull are appointed to settle with them and to take a deed of the 
same on behalf of this society. " August 19,1807, this committee report 
" that they have taken a deed of the land for the meeting house in North 
East." On behalf of the building committee or trustees appointed at 
Stanford ville by the society. February 22, 1800, a deed of trust was taken 
by Ezra Bryan and Charles Hoag — they were two of the trustees — from 
Jacob Bockee the then proprietor of the land where the house now stands. 
This deed bears date June 20, 1808. Consideration " twenty-five dollars. " 
Ezra Bryan and Charles Hoag made their conveyance to Charles Hull, 
Solomon Vail, John Peckham, Isaac Vail, Samuel Carpenter and Edward 
Hull, September 1, 1807, which left the title in them as trustees of the 
society and a meeting house ready for occupancy. Thus step by step with 
due consideration and the concurrence and unity of the women the 
Quaker meeting house in North East was built. Ezra Bryan, one of the 
early members of this society, was its builder, and its original shape with 
its long steep roof and high gables is still preserved. The side was front 
which was to the south, fronting the road from the south and two doors 
for entrance, the right for " mankind " the left for "womankind" There 
were long benches for seats to which very comfortable back rails were 
attached, and a high wood partition ran through the center to hide the 
women from the men and the girls from the boys. A small raised platform 
was at the rear end of the men's department. It was plain yet comfortable 
inside, and with it the Friends and world's people were satisfied. A substan- 
tial stone foundation supported it and the lot sloped to the south, so that the 
entrance to the doors which were on that side was up a flight of five steps 
built of stone and of a height each which in these days would be " killing '* 
to some people. But the Quakers then had plenty of backbone and strong, 



158 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

knees so no difficulty was experienced in getting into the house through the 
doorways. Elias Hicks, the great Quaker preacher, had at this time com- 
menced preaching. The division into Hicksite and Orthodox came later. 
" We attended Friend's meeting at North East," he says in his journal, 
"on first day ( Sunday, December 21, 1807), and also a meeting in the 
evening at Little Nine Partuers." [Note. — Little Nine Partners was the 
Quaker meeting house in Milan. That was in North East then, but they 
distinguished the two societies by calling that Little Nine Partners and 
this North East, although both were in Little Nine Partners and also in 
North East. The society at Mechanic was in "Great Nine Partners," 
called by the Quakers by that name. — I. H.] Even earlier than this he 
writes "on second day (Monday, December 5, 1803). we rode to Little 
Nine Partners (Milan); and the four following days we attended meet- 
ings at that place, Pine Plains, Stanford and Creek." And again in 1818 he 
preached here. "First day the 23" ( November 22, 1818), we had a very 
crowded meeting at Little Nine Partners. The next day we were at an 
appointed meeting in Friend's meeting house in the town of North East 
which was likewise a very full meeting." [Note. — Milan was set off in 
the spring of that year, so the meeting house at Bethel was very correctly 
as he says "in the town of North East." — I. H.] These were the visits 
of that bright comet Elias Hicks. But the first preacher here of the fixed 
star order was Thomas Ellison, who commenced preaching about 1807. 
This was one of the fields of his earliest labors. He preached in other 
places in this county, but to this society and community was Thomas 
Ellison known above all men in his church relations for a connected 
quarter of a century. During this time this house was filled Sabbath days 
and often on the week-day meetings. Of actual members there were 
twenty-five or thirty, possibly more. These, with their influence in the 
community, gave wordly prosperity to the society. In the minutes of 
January 18, 1806, already noticed, an application was made to the Stan- 
ford society for a preparative meeting to be held here. It was granted 
July 19, 1806, in accordance with their report, and the preparative meet- 
ings were to be held on the 4th day of the week preceding the monthly 
meeting to be held at Stanford in September. Monthly and quarterly 
meetings were not held here, but at Stanford. 

"Time flies," and we scarcely realize while writing of these neighbor- 
hood matters that eighty years and more have gone, and with them the 
persons answering to the names just written, other forms have appeared 
and there have been changes in church government and changes in the 
government of the same church or society. So old church records as well 
as other records often have a vein of humor above legend or tradition. The 
essence of fact gives them flavor I give an incident touching the church 
law of marriage as it then existed in the society of Friends. I have men- 
tioned in my list of members of this society Gerard us Winans — "Uncle 




JONAS KNICKERBACKER. 
[See Lineage.] 



160 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Grand" — who then lived on the Edward Huntting farm, and furnished 
quite a quantity of timber for the frame of this meeting house. In 1807 or 
thereabouts he married the widow of Benjamin Knickerbocker and this is 
what they said about it at the Stanford monthly meeting on the 18th of 4th 
month, 1807: "North East" preparative meeting informs that Gerardus 
Winans has kept company and married contrary to the order of Friends 
after being precautioned. This meeting after weightily considering the 
subject appears easy in concluding to disown him, and appoint Charles 
Coleman and Abraham Gurney to inform him thereof and to prepare an 
essay and produce to next meeting." This committee reported at the 
Stanford monthly meeting 23d of 5th month, 1807 : " Whereas Gerardus 
Winans, a member of our meeting, having so far deviated from the estab- 
lished rules of our society, as to go out in marriage with one not a member 
with us after being seasonably precautioned ; we therefore testify against 
his misconduct therein and disown him from being any longer a member 
with us until he shall make satisfaction to the monthly meeting. The fol- 
lowing Friends are appointed to inform him thereof and give him a copy if 
desired and inform him of the right of an appeal and report to next meet- 
ing. — Thomas Ellison, Thomas Griffin and Ezra Bryan." They reported at 
the Stanford monthly meeting on the 20th of 6th month, 1807, saying, 
"The Friends appointed to inform Gerardus Winans of the judgment of 
last meeting in his case and to offer him a copy of his denial and inform 
him of his right to an appeal, report the appointment answered and that 
he did not manifest any intention to appeal." According to the popular 
verdict now, " Uncle Crand " did right in sticking to " Aunt Latchie "— 
regardless of being "disowned." He was in advance of the times. But 
the society could take no step backward and was morally obliged to act as 
it did. An incident several years later, in the o0s. is fresh to my memory. 
One bright Sabbath morning I went to Quaker meeting. The house was 
fairly filled and there being no preaching that day, it %\as a "silent" meet- 
ing. In the silence, I heard outside the galloping of a horse coming from 
the east. The messenger halted at the door and one of the Friends went 
out. It was Isaac Reynolds. He soon returned to the door— which was 
open— in front of the men's department and said in a strong, earnest voice 
" Edmund, thy house is on fire." The silence was very suddenly broken 
and meeting was out. It proved to be the dwelling on the farm owned by 
Mr. George Smith, deceased. Edmund Reynolds was the Friend addressed, 
who was the proprietor of that farm and at that time owned and lived on 
the farm now the residence of Mr. Phenix Deuel. Thomas Ellison, the 
early preacher here, was social, generous, warm-hearted and naturally 
made everybody his friend. There was a peculiarly pleasant melody in 
his voice when preaching, which perhaps made him so popular as a 
preacher. He appealed to and touched the hearts of his hearers by his 
emotional warmth, rather than by cold logic to reason and judgment. No 



THE CHURCHES. 161 

man excelled him in the kind of singing oratory of that day. It was 
natural to him, hence pleasant to listen to. It is said that in early life he 
learned to play the violin, and played for dances, at apple parings and 
other social gatherings. While under religious impressions he attended 
one of these gatherings as "tiddler," and as he relates, his violin con- 
tinually sang "Jesus Christ was crucified, Jesus Christ was crucified." 
With reverence be it said the rhythm of this line is in accord with the dance 
music of that time and highly compliments Mr. Ellison as musician in its 
application. This was about the last of his playing and he sold his violin. 
But remorse for this sale troubled him. He purchased the violin soon 
after, and found peace in seeing it burn in the old fireplace. The years 
from 1807 to 1830 were the brightest in the history of this society. Thomas 
Ellison — who had been living for several years while preaching here, in the 
dwelling on the corner south east of the church, now occupied by Henry 
Knickerbocker, and with his son, Tripp Ellison, kept a store and tailor 
shop in a building on the same corner and some years since destroyed by 
fire — moved away about 1827 and the society was left without a regular 
preacher. This vacancy was filled by different preachers or speakers from 
the society at Stanfordville, and among them Henry Hull filled the most 
appointments. Meanwhile — 1840 — other denominations had erected 
churches and organized societies at Pine Plains, which drew away support 
from this. Sadder still, nearly all the original members, some in family 
burying grounds, others in public ones, were ' 'each in his narrow cell for- 
ever laid" and none to fill their places. At length no meetings were held and 
in 1873 it was thought best by the society at Stanfordville to sell the prop- 
erty, which was accomplished by Peter Dorland at private sale to Mr. 
Phenix Deuel, in the spring of that year. John Carman, the youngest son 
of Phineas Carman and grandson of Richard Carman, died in 1879. He 
was the only living male member of the society at the time of his de- 
cease, and with his decease the record of "The Friends Society in North 
East" is finished. 

But tho' finished as I have made it, reproach would come upon me, and 
that right justly, did I not stop here to pay tribute— an humble one — to 
the founder of this "society," and a worthy man, Charles Hoag. He was 
the son of John and Mercy Hoag, of the town of Washington, Dutchess 
County, N. Y. They came from Connecticut. Charles was born Dec. 25, 
1771, married Betsey Denton, Nov. 21, 1793, and came to this town in 1798. 
He was a living force continually and when he took the office of town 
clerk of old North East in 1800, he vitalized the system of record keeping 
and brought order from the chaotic. For conscience's sake he could not 
" solemnly swear " to do this before any judge or justice, but it was as 
solemn and binding for him to say before James Winchell, a justice of the 
peace : "I, Charles Hoag, do solemnly, sincerely declare and affirm that I 
will faithfully and honestly keep all the books, records, writings, and 



162 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

papers by virtue of my said office of town clerk committed and which 
shall from time to time be committed unto me * * *." He felt the 
import of this obligation and fulfilled it. His filing on this paper reads : 
"Town Clerk's Affirmation. " This was his first civil office in the town 
and be held it only one term. The next year he was one of the board of 
excise, having Jesse Thompson, James Winchell and Isaac Sherwood for 
associates. These "solemnly swear in presence of Almighty God" in 
regard to their official duties, and Mr. Hoag affirms. He had no desire for 
political strife. For him it had no charm and he abandoned it. The strife 
to win was nothing, but the strife to do good was everything, and the 
greatest good he deemed to be in education. In this he was foremost of 
all men in his time in this locality, from first to last. Upon his first settle- 
ment in the town he became one of the trustees in his school district — 
which office be filled nearly annually for over thirty years— and in the 
winter of 1798 and 9 employed Ira Sawyer as teacher, who taught eighty- 
one and a half days from Nov. 28, '98, to March 22, '99. There were thirty- 
feeven scholars, and his daughter Anny — then about five years old — only 
missed seven days, which for so young a child shows the interest her 
father had in the school as well as for her punctual attendance. The late 
Harriet Dibble Bostwick attended sixty-three days and her brother 
Gustavus sixty-four. New life was put into the district. Mr. Hoag was 
trustee the next year and Mr. Sawyer continued as teacher from March 22, 
'99, to March 1800. Anny Hoag went 148 days and Harriet Dibble and 
her brother 188 each, which is the 'highest score on the list. This was his 
beginning in the cause of education which he kept up for several years, 
meanwhile enlarging his sphere and influence by taking the town office of 
commissioner of schools. In 1812 he again took the advance — the first in 
the present town limits — by opening a boarding school for girls and boys 
at his own dwelling. The girls' school was a building adjoining the south- 
west corner of the present Henry Keefer dwelling, the boys' school being 
in an addition adjoining the main building on the north. Jacob Willett 
and his wife Deborah Rogers — both later well known in this county — were 
employed as teachers in these respective schools. It was called a "board- 
ing school." A "select school" came many years later, but never by 
Charles Hoag. Jacob Willett and Deborah taught here three years, 
possibly longer. The school was open for day pupils and was a power for 
good. Among the pupils boarding were daughters of Isaac Smith, Esq., 
then living three miles north of Pine Plains in "Ancram," the children of 
Peter Husted, of John Harris, of Eliakim Lapham, the children of Captain 
Isaac Hunting, Emily Dibble, later the wife of Henry Bostwick, Louisa 
and Abby Smith, daughters of Judge Isaac Smith, of Lithgow, the former 
Subsequently the wife of Hon. Homer Wheaton, the latter the wife of Hon. 
Nathaniel P. Talmadge, Betsy Hitchcock, the wife of Theodoras Gregory, 
many years since connected with the "Eastern House" in Poughkeepsie, 



THE CHURCHES. 163 

and Miss Sarah Wilber, of Pine Plains, who until her recent decease was 
the only one living of this list. These are by no means all, but represent 
patronage from the surrounding towns and territories, a patronage highly 
appreciative and complimentary to Charles Hoag's zeal and energy in the 
cause of education. Jacob Willett and wife went from here to Mechanic 
in this county and established a school which had wide celebrity and 
patronage for many years. Enoch Haight succeeded Mr. Willett in the 
school at Charles Hoag's for a few years, when he established or taught a 
school on the site of the present county poor house. Mr. Haight was suc- 
ceeded by Ambrose Eggleston, the eldest children of Charles Hoag now 
being assistants, and afterward carrying on the school alone, until about, 
1824, when the school closed. The building used for the girls school 
on the southwest corner of the dwelling was sold and converted into 
a dwelling near by in Bethel, in which Hiram Davis, a shoemaker, for- 
merly lived, and later Josiah Johnson, and still later sold to Edward 
Huntting. Again in 1835 Charles Hoag opened a boarding school at 
his dwelling, principally for ladies, his youngest daughter, Miss Mary 
Hoag, being, principal. Like the former school it was open for day 
scholars, and all the young ladies of the neighborhood attended and 
many from abroad were boarders. It was highly successful. She 
kept the school at this time three years, then went to Flushing for one 
year — 1838 — returned and re-opened the school in 1839 and continued it 
until 1841 when it closed never to open again. Miss Hoag was an accom- 
plished lady and teacher, teaching for several years after the close of this 
school in Albany. Her school at home was in the north building, which 
has since been sold — moved and converted into a dwelling, now on the 
corner opposite the old Quaker meeting house. Charles Hoag was not 
stout in physique nor tall, had dark hair and a black eye that looked yes 
or no without equivocation. His temperament was bilious, with the ner- 
vous organization peculiar to that temperament largely infused. His 
moral courage was quite phenomenal compared with the average man. He 
knew no personal fear and cared little for public opinion where right and 
duty called. [An instance. — When — about 1829 — the excitement was 
great among the respective Hicksite and Orthodox Friends, trouble arose 
about the property of the Society at Mechanic — "Nine Partners" — and no 
Orthodox Quaker there could stay the aggressions of the Hicksites. Many 
tried it and failed. The Haights were the leading Hicksites. Charles 
Hoag ( orthodox ) was called. He went, and when he said " Jonathan if 
thee puts thy hand there I'll chop it off," Jonathan deemed it prudent to 
keep his hand off, and he did. They knew Charles Hoag and none 
molested him nor made him afraid. He was in the right and preserved 
the property for the time being to the orthodox society, which was later 
decided in the civil court the Hicksite being adjudged seceders. He had 
no peer in prompt decision and action. Indeed for him to decide was to 



164 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

act. He coupled them. He waited not for opportunities but created them. 
Other men might come to the same mental result by a waiting deliberation, 
but while they deliberated Charles Hoag had the thing accomplished. 
He had not the suave, many - sided elements for personal popularity 
or for a successful politician, hence he was deemed by the drones 
and cowards cross, crabbed, overbearing and tyrannical. Enemies are 
useful to such men and they always have them. They could not or did 
not read him aright, for he was not of them although among them, and 
his voice and example were continually crying ' ' woe to the sluggard 
and the idler." In early life he studied navigation, having an eye 
to the navy, but for personal reasons it is said he abandoned that and 
took up surveying. The might have been is speculation, not history, yet 
yielding to temptation a pity true it seems that a Providence should have 
changed the steps of one so well fitted in character for a commodore or 
an admiral. In the prosecution of surveying his powers of endurance 
were often tested. Some of his surveys — probably many of them — are in 
existence now and show his handy work. About 1830 he sold his compass, 
chain and field notes and also his business to William Eno, Esq., of Pine 
Plains, reserving the right to complete the work in that line he had at that 
time commenced. In addition to this he wrote wills, contracts, agree- 
ments and other legal papers of like import. He was counsellor, referee 
and judge, known and employed for miles around. He wrote a neat, plain 
hand and his language was concise, covering his points without verbosity 
or ambiguity. More might be written but enough already to form judg- 
ment of what he was to himself, his God and his fellow men. I knew him 
in his declining and last days when ' ' years steal fire from the mind and 
vigor from the limb," and could form some estimate of the heat and blaze 
of early life and manhood. It was in the severity of winter when he drew 
wood from a lot on Stissing mountain to his house. His family protested 
and his neighbors saw him go by with wonder and pity in the cold and 
storm. "Charles Hoag is sick " they said the next day or so after, pneu- 
monia followed and within a week he died, died with the harness on. 
East of the old Quaker meeting house lot and adjoining is its burying 
ground. No blocks nor shafts of Scotch granite nor Italian marble are 
there decked with carved trappings which so often mock goodness never 
known to the sleeping dust beneath, but in one spot is a mound with sim- 
ple turf, green perennial as the years come and go. At the west end of 
this stands a plain white marble slab on which the Friend, the worldling 
and the stranger can read ; 

DIED. 

CHARLES HOAG 

1st mo. 23d 1840 
Aged 68 Years. 




Presbyterian Church, January, 1889. 



166 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

At the outset under this head it is pertinent and proper to state that 
the history of this church building is referred to until the Presbyterian 
church society had a being some years later, which will be noticed in its 
order of time. Until this takes place it is more of a complicated historical 
study than plain historical reading 

The Presbyterian Church building at Pine Plains is the outcome of an 
association for a church building, having its origin in 1813. Before and 
during the revolutionary war the settlers having or desiring church rela- 
tions were content, by choice or necessity, with the services at Round Top 
and Greenbush ( Vedder) churches. The war ending in 1783 and peace re- 
stored, an impetus was given to immigration into that part of " Little Nine 
Partners" west of Winchell Mountain. Hither came people to settle from 
Connecticut, Long Island, Pawling. Dover. Horse Neck (Greenwich, Conn.) 
and other places having different denominational church interests and rela- 
tions. The Quakers, quite numerous and influential in the south part of 
the town and in Milan, had built a church in 1806 at Bethel, and the 
unfriendly, for lack of a church of their own, attended their meetings as 
best they could do, if not for spiritual good Meanwhile Pine Plains vil- 
lage, about 1800, began to boom as a business place, inviting lawyers, doc- 
tors, merchants and mechanics of various trades. Hither came the invited 
and uninvited, representing Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, German 
Reformed, and one or two Universalist, enough of the liberal leaven to 
leaven the whole lump, provided the lump would leaven Neither of these 
alone could build a meeting house good enough in all respects to be proud 
of — be it said they had commendable pride— and so to have a building 
they could each and all be pleased to look at and worship in, they on April 
10, 1813, entered into "Articles of Association for the building of the Union 
Meeting House on Pine Plains." Then follows: "We, the undersigned, 
having associated for the purpose of erecting a House for Publick Worship 
on the Pine Plains do agree as follows: That the size of s'd house shall be 
thirty -six feet by fifty feet. That the expense of building it shall be 
divided into Twenty-Five or more parts or shares, and that the holder 
of each undivided share be bound to pay to such committee or either of 
them as may be elected by a majority of the votes of the persons 
present at the election for committee, and in like manner to the suc- 
cessors in office of s'd committee, the proportions of money due on 
their individual shares in such installments as s'd committee may 
think necessary, and for which they are always to give at least thir- 
ty days notice. That the first election of committee shall be made 
at a meeting of which ten days publick notice shall be given. That 
written notice put up at both the Publick Houses at the Plains shall be on 
all occasions deemed publick notice of such meeting, be posted in con- 
spicuous places. That when the name of more than one person shall be 



THE CHURCHES. iC7 

placed opposite a share, each and every individual shall be holden for 
arrears, and the committee may accordingly call on them collectively or 
separate. That if any share shall be in arrears after the time set by the 
committee for the payment of any monies thereon, the interest shall accrue 
from such time of payment, and may be taxed on said share, and it is fully 
understood and agreed that if any share shall be in arrears for more than 
one year from the time afore designated, and the whole money and inter- 
est due thereon shall not be paid over to the committee, then and in such 
case tbe delinquent share shall revert and fully belong to the holders of the 
residue of the shares of said House in a just and equal proportion. That a 
new election for committee shall take place at such time and place or 
within three months thereafter as may be fixed by tbe last previous meet- 
ing for committee, also the number of the committee shall be fixed in like 
manner except the first committee to be chosen which shall consist of five 
in number. Tbat each shall have one vote and no more. Tbat all trans- 
actions, either of the proprietors or the committee, shall be governed by a 
majority of the votes of those present, and the minority are expected and 
understood to acquiesce. The committee to fix on the site for the House. 
The house to be substantially and well built, completely finished and 
painted neat but plain, and free from costly, extravagant work, all neces- 
sary discretionary powers, however, are vested in the committee, and by 
them to be freely exercised. The shares in said House to be transferable. 
After the House is finished the Pews and all profits arising therefrom are 
to be appropriated equally for the emolument of each share, agreeably to 
the discretion of the committee and distributed accordingly. Bylaws may 
be hereafter formed, which if made shall be binding. 

Subscription to Meeting House shares. Note — the words "or more" 
after twenty-five were interlined before signing. 

Share No. 1. Henry Hoffman ; 2, Henry Hoffman ; 3, Fyler Dibblee ; 
4, Fyler Dibblee ; 5, Ebenezer Dibblee ; 6, Isaiah Dibble ; 7, Isaac Hunt- 
ing ; 8, Israel Harris ; 9, Eli S. Bostwick and Rufus Bostwick ; 10, Israel 
Reynolds; 11, Israel Reynolds; 12, William Woodin and Justus Booth; 13, 
Cornelius Husted and Christian Schultz; 14, Samuel Waters; 15, Matthias 
Hoffman; 16. James G. Husted and Widow Husted; 17, Cornelius Allerton; 
Walter Husted ; Leonard Husted; 18, Theodore Hooker one-quarter ; Derrick 
Husted one-quarter; Walter Thomas one-quarter; John Couch one-quarter; 

19, Jesse Thompson, Philo Wells, Salmon Stevenson, William Stevenson; 

20, Joshua Culver, and Henry I. Hiserodt, Jun., one quarter ; 21, John 
Hiserodt one-half share, Benjamin Strever one quarter; Henry I. Hiserodt 
one-quarter; 22, Isaac B. Smith, Harry Winchester; 23, Jacob Millis, Peter 
Loucks ; 24 William Righter, Jun., one quarter, Gerardus Winans, Jun., 
one quarter, Benj. Millis one-quarter, Win. L. VanAlstyne one-quarter; 



168 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

25, A. E. Winchell, Stephen Eno; 96 Silas Harris one-half, William Stickle 
one-quarter, Jacob Stickle one-quarter; 27 Isaac Dibble one-half, David 
Winans one-half; 29 Nicholas Pulver one-half; 30 Coonrod Wiltsey one- 
quarter. 

Nothing was done toward the erection of the building in 1813. The 
first meeting taking action thereto was at the public house of Isi'ael Rey- 
nolds — now Stissing House — the second Saturday of February, (12th,) 1814, 
when Henry Hoffman, Fyler Dibblee, William Woodin, Isaac Huntting 
and Israel Reynolds, five of the associate number, were chosen a commit- 
tee to manage the affairs of the association until the next election. Henry 
Hoffman was chairman and William Woodin clerk. The next annual elec- 
tion for a committee was at this meeting appointed to be held on the first 
Saturday in February, 1815, at 2 o'clock, at the house of Israel Reynolds, 
This was the annual election of the committee, but meanwhile, October 
8th, 1814, Henry Hoffman, William Woodin, Israel Reynolds and Isaac 
Huntting, four of the committee, met and arranged to put up this notice in 
four public places : 

"Notice. — Subscribers to the Association for building a house for pub- 
lic worship on the Pine Plains are hereby notified that an installment of 
eight dollars on each share is required to be paid to Doct. Israel Reynolds 
by the nineteenth day of November next. By direction of the committee. 

William Woodin, Clerk. 

North East Town, October 10, 1814." 

The next meeting was the annual one for the election of a committee 
to be held on the first Saturday in Februaiy, 4th, 1815. Notice of this elec- 
tion was made and posted January 30th, 1815, by William Woodin, clerk. 
The meeting was held pursuant to notice Feb. 4, 1815, and Isaac Huntting, 
William Woodin, Fyler Dibblee, Henry Hoffman and Silas Harris were by 
ballot chosen committee, Henry Hoffman being chosen chairman. It was 
declared at this meeting by a vote of the subscribers that a share of the as- 
sociation should not exceed one hundred dollars. Preparations had com- 
menced the year before, 1814, for the building of the meeting house, and 
the committee for that year reported at this meeting that George Clark, 
the land holder, had donated one hundred and fifty dollars in cash, and a 
note against John Merritt and James Myers for one hundred dollars, mak- 
ing two hundred and fifty dollars; that Doct. Israel Reynolds had con- 
tracted with a Mr. Ives to deliver at Pine Plains 25000 shingles at $3.50 per 
thousand, and also with another party for 5000 feet siding delivered here 
at $16, and with another party for 5000 feet boards and plank at New 
Marlborough, at $10.25 per thousand. Also at this meeting it was declared 
that the next annual meeting for the election of the committee should be 
held at the house of Doct. Israel Reynolds on the first Saturday in Februa- 
iy, 1816. Two days after the annual meeting of Saturday, 4th, 1815, the 
committee met (Monday, Feb. 6.) and appointed Aaron E. Winchell clerk 
and treasurer of this building association, and so competent a man for that 



THE CHURCHES. 169 

position could not probably bave been selected at that time in the town of 
North East. The accounts show his accuracy and particularity. A bal- 
ance of one penny was noted, and the assessment of shares and fractional 
payments, and payments of fractional interest on pews and various other 
complications of this conglomerate church association might have puzzled 
a less methodical head than his. All the accounts and money passed 
through his hands, and much of it in changes and "turn" as he calls it. 
He held the office of clerk in this association to 1837 and possibly later. 
His first official act was Feb. 7, 1815, the next day after his appointment, 
to post four notices, one each in four public places calling for another in- 
stallment of sixteen dollars on each share of stock, to be paid to him by 
the eleventh day of March next (1815). Thus the preliminary building 
year of 1814 passed and the spring of 1815 found the committee with funds 
sufficient to commence the building. 

February 11, 1815, a meeting of the committee was held, four being 
present, Henry Hoffman, Silas Harris, Fyler Dibblee and William Woodin, 
and they decided to purchase the Husted lot to erect the Meeting House on, 
and Fyler Dibblee and William Woodin were appointed to attend to its 
purchase at one hundred and fifty dollars. Two days after this, February 
13, this deed was executed, the consideration being one hundred and fifty 
dollars, the lot four rods wide and five rods deep. The grantors were Joshua 
Culver and Lavinia his wife, Cornelius Husted and Phebe his wife, Walter 
Husted, Leonard Husted and Saloma (Sally) his wife, Corneiius Aller- 
ton and Clarissa his wife, Polly Husted and Harry Husted, all of the town 
of Northeast in Duchess County. The grantees were Henry Hoffman, Isaac 
Huntting, Fyler Dibblee, William Woodin and Silas Harris. The grant- 
ees were "joint tenants and not as tenants in common for the use of and as 
trustees for the inhabitants of said village of Pine Plains and the parts ad- 
jacent thereto, for the purpose of erecting a church or meeting house on 
the premises with a yard about the same to be appropriated and forever 
hereafter set apart for the use, benefit and accommodation of said inhab- 
itants in carrying on and celebrating public divine worship therein."' 

At this same meeting of the committee on Feb. 11, 1815, Silas Harris 
and Willliam Woodin were appointed to go to Catskill and purchase lum- 
ber and material for the church, and for this purpose February 13, 1815, 
they were paid $222. On receiving the money Colonel Harris said : ' Gen- 
tlemen, I will spend your money. " "That's just what we want," replied 
Squire Hoffman, • 'go ahead. " Teams were readily procured to haul the 
lumber, as the enthusiasm was great to see the church built. It was the 
special enterprise of that year. At this same meeting the committee made 
a contract with Elijah B. Northrop and Mr. Terril, the carpenters, for 
building the church. Elijah B. Northrop was deemed a skilled carpenter 
at that time. He worked by the "square rule" as it was called, that is, 
made each piece in the frame in mortise and tenon fit its relative cor- 



170 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

responding piece without 'scribing" as it had been hitherto done. It is 
easy to do this now, but this timber was felled in the forests, and it was 
phenomenal to see Northrop go from place to place, cut and square the 
timber and make mortise and tenon ready for the building. Doubts 
as to the fitting and coming together in all its parts in the frame were gen- 
eral, almost universal. But like the temple of Solomon, the timbers 
felled in the forests were nicely adjusted in mortise and tenon, and went 
together in the frame, not however without the sound of ax or hammer. 
The building was begun in April, 1815, and completed in nine months. It 
was 36x50, having a square belfry and tower , and a spire. The pulpit, a 
high one, requiring ten steps to get into, was opposite the entrance. Be- 
hind the pulpit was a window to light the reading of the scripture and ' 'the 
light thereof" at the end of the written sermon, but extremely unpleasant 
for sitters in the body pews to gaze at the minister in the glare of the win- 
dow. This window was taken out and the vacancy filled with lath and 
mortar in the repairs of the '40s. A stove was in the middle at the en- 
trance — -no vestibule, the outside doors opening into the body of the church, 
which later was taken out and a stove placed at each corner at the en- 
trance. To make room for these corner stoves the back seat or pew in 
each corner was taken out. Tha pipes from these stoves passed out 
of the windows. There were two aisles to accommodate the pews on the 
sides and center. There were fourteen pews on each side next to the wall, 
including the rear pew taken out later for the stove, twelve on each side 
of the body center, and three on either side of the pulpit in the corners 
facing the pulpit, making a total of fifty-eight below, each seating com- 
fortably four, giving a seating capacity of 232 below. Each pew had a 
door. Above there was a gallery on each side and in the front The side 
galleries each had two rows of seats the whole length. The front gallery 
had three rows of seats between the stair entrances which were in each 
corner. There were eighteen round columns in all, with Corinthian trim- 
mings, four on each side above and four on each side below in perpendicu- 
lar line, supporting respectively the front of the galleries and the 
roof frame above, and two in the the center of the front gallery, one 
above and one below, in the same relative position as on the sides. The 
top of the front of the galleries all around the building had a wide over 
hanging cornice and the space between that and the bottom finish of the 
gallery had a facing of horizontal, perpendicular, diamond shaped and 
zigzag carvings and mouldings which would now be called antique 
or unique, possibly either would be proper form. Wood was used for 
fuel exclusively, and in the later years of the old church, as I remember, 
the upright cylinder wood stoves in the corners, which had taken 
the place of the one between the doors, gave a good heat to the winter 
cold hand, and were equally good or better to scorch the fur muffs of the 
unmindful young ladies and old women. The numbering of the pews com- 




HENRY C. MYERS. 

[See Lineage.] 



172 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

menced in the southwest corner at the rear pew on the side left of the west 
entrance door. This was No. 1, (which was taken out later for the stove) 
in front of that was 2, the rear west center pew was 3, directly opposite 
the side pew was 4, the pew next front of the center (3) was 5, opposite this 
on the side was 6, and so on relatively on this aisle to the last front west 
center pew 25, opposite to this was 26, the front west side. The front cor- 
ner pew on this west side facing the pulpit was 28, next in rear 29, and 
back of that next the wall 30. The rear pew in the corner left of the pulpit 
and facing it was 31, front of that was 32, and the front one of the three 
33. The front pew on the east side was 35, opposite that in the east center 
body was 36. Diagonally opposite on the east side next in rear of 35 was 
37, directly opposite in the body was 38, and so on relatively toward the 
entrance, the last body pew being 58 and the last side pew 60, which was 
later taken out for the stove. The pews were appraised to cover the in- 
debtedness amounting to about thirty-five hundred dollars. The price was 
graduated as follows: In the body part the front pews next the pulpit on 
each side were "reserved " The pew next in rear to the reserved on each 
side was appraised at ninety dollars and with two exceptions five dollars 
less on each pew in order toward the entrance, the last being thirty-five 
dollars. The side pews commencing at the pulpit end were one hundred 
dollars for the front on each side, and five dollars less with two exceptions 
on each pew in order back, the last one being thirty-five, each side alike. 
1 be corner pews to the right and left of the pulpit were one hundred dol- 
lars each. 

Everything was now ready for the sale of the pews to pay the indebt- 
edness. Public notice by written posters and otherwise was given that the 
sale would take place on the 14th of February, 1816. The great general 
interest brought many bidders. It was a noble work. The building debt 
stood against it. Elijah B. Northrop & Co. , the builders, needed their pay. 
Henry Hoffman, deeply interested at the commencement and true to the 
last, was determined the good work should not end ingloriously. "The 
meeting house must be paid for," he said. Silas Harris, very active and 
enthusiastic in building the church, came with a small jug of rum. Live- 
ly stomachs make liberal and cheerful bidders, especially, at an auction. 
James Lillie, a lame lawyer, who had come here in 1813, mounted a table 
as auctioneer and the sale went on with spirit. The difference between a 
sale with spirit and a spiritual sale was not then and there discussed. The 
sale took place Wednesday, Feb. 14, 1816, to the highest bidder, on a credit 
of six months from Wednesday, Feb. 21, 1815, when the deeds were exe- 
cuted by the committee, Henry Hoffman, Fyler Dibblee, Isaac Huntting, 
William Woodin and Silas Harris, who had been elected February 3d, pre- 
vious. Account of sale: No. 1 not sold, 2 Benjamin Millius $50, 3 Henry 
Strevel $35, 4 Jacob Stickle $54, 5 Jacob Millius $48, 6 Doctor Cornelius Al- 
lerton and Cornelius Husted $70, 7 Benjamin Knickerbocker $57, 8 Henry 



THE CHURCHES. 173 

I Hiserodt, Jr , $60, 9 Peter A. Pulver $60, 10 Walter Husted and Leonard 
Husted $66, 11 Andreas Stickle $61, 12 William Stevenson $67, 13 William 
Righter, Jr., $62, 14 Justus Boothe $70. 15 Charles Johnson, David Van- 
Dusen $73, 16 Ebenezer Dibblee $83, 17 John A. Turck, Theodore Hooker 
$78, 18 Joshua Culver $125, 19 Jacob Bockee and William Van Alstyne$75, 
20 Nicholas Pulver $117, 21 William Woodin $80, 22 Christian C. Shultz 
$108, 23 William A. Stickle $84, 24 Aaron E. Winched $130, 25 "reserved" 
body front, 26 Henry Hoffman $125, 27 entrance, to corner pews on west 
side, 28 Peter W. Pulver $153, 29 Silas Harris $151, 30 Israel and James 
Harris $130, 31 Isaac Huntting $125, 32 Fyler Dibblee $160, 33 Isaiah and 
Isaac Dibble $135, 34 entrance to corner pews on east side, 35 James G. 
Husted $96, 36 "reserved," body front, 37 Matthias Hoffman $102, 38 Jas. 
W. Smith $84, 39 William W. Pulver $95, 40 Henry I. Traver$80, this pew 
was conveyed by trustees to Elijah B. Northrop in 1821, 41 Isaac B. Smith 
and David Wmans $106, 42 Jesse Thompson and Philo Wells $75, 43 Jo- 
siah Winans $80, 44 Andrus Keefer $78, 45 Israel Reynolds $81, 46 Isaac 
Huntting $73, 47 Peter Loucks $81, 48 Stephen Eno $68, 49 |Henry Hoff- 
man $60, 50 Theodore Hooker $50, 51 Hendrick Keefer $63, 52 John Harris 
$50, 53 Conrad J. Wiltsey $58. 54 Elisha Kenyon $53. He did not take 
it. Fyler Dibblee took it. 55 Henry M. Hoffman $60, 56 Martin J. Hise 
rodt $49, 57 Silas Germond $40, 58 Peter B. Knickerbocker $35, 59 Henry I. 
Hiserodt $43. These were the prices the pews brought at the auction 
sale, in amount over $4000, but the next year, Mar,, 1817, these prices were 
changed by a reduction on some and addition on others to make a nearer 
just scale for levying the taxes to pay the ministers and other expenses. 

Probably no man at that sale had more influence to make the pews sell 
at good figures than Silas Harris. Tradition gives him credit for earnest 
work. He and Fyler Dibblee paid the highest prices, $150, and it was by 
his direct and personal influence that Peter W. Pulver, not an original sub 
scriber, paid the same for his pew. Henry Hoffman, Fyler Dibblee, Isaac 
Huntting, William Woodin and Silas Harris were committee of this society 
at this time, and signed the deeds to the purchasers. These deeds have 
the form and dignity of a conveyance of real estate, and probably some are 
now to be found in old trunks and garrets. One form reads : 

"Know all men by these presents, that we, Henry Hoffman, Fyler 
Dibblee, Isaac Huntting, William Woodin and Silas Harris, have released 
and quit claimed and by these presents do for us and our heirs forever re 
mise, release, and quit claim unto of the town of Dutch- 
ess County, his heirs and assigns, all the right, title, interest, claim and de- 
mand which we have of and in that certain seat or pew marked number — 
in the new meeting house lately erected on the Pine plains in the town of 
North East. In witness whereof," &c. 

Signed by the above. The pews were deemed a sort of real estate, and 
transferable in like form and manner, but not recorded. 

April 5, 1813, the legislature passed a general act for the incorporation 



174 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

of religious societies. In regard to the date of this incorporation there are 
some papers extant — and I have one — which do not agree in date with the 
record in the church book written by Aaron E. Winched. The outside pa- 
pers referred to above give February, 181G, as the month of incorporation. 
Upon a careful examination I deem the record in the book by Mr. Winch- 
ell correct and produce a copy: 

"For three or four Sundays in succession previous to Monday the 4th 
of March, public notice was given after divine service by the Rev. Mr. 
Blair at the Pine Plains meeting house that an election for the trustees of 
the society would be held at the said meeting house on Monday the 4th day 
of March, the same being in conformity with an act of the legislature of the 
-state of New York for incorporating religious societies passed April 5, 1813, 
Monday, March 4, 181(5, agreeable to the above notice the society (general 
ly) assembled at the said meeting house, motioned and carried that Israel 
Harris and Aaron E. Winchell be the presiding officers. A motion made 
and carried that said society do elect trustees. A motion made and carried 
that the number of trustees to be elected shall be six. A motion made and 
carried to vote viva voce. The motion reconsidered and carried to vote 
by ballot, Israel Harris and Aaron E. Winchell as presiding officers to re- 
ceive the ballots and test the qualifications of voters, the society proceeded 
to ballot. The poll being closed and on canvassing the votes it appeared 
that Henry Hoffman, Silas Harris, Fyler Dibblee, Isaac Huntting, Corne- 
lius Allerton and Israel Harris were by the greatest number of votes elect- 
ed trustees. A motion made and seconded that this house be known by 
and named the Pine Plains Meeting house and carried in the affirmative." 

Israel Harris and Aaron E. Winchell certified to this as returning offi- 
cers to the county clerk, and were acknowledged as such by Fyler Dibblee, 
one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, the next day after the 
election (March 5, 1816.) The retnrn thus perfected went to Po'keepsie the 
same day, was received for record "at half past five o'clock P. M.," and re- 
corded in Lib. 1 of church deeds and certificates, Pages 76 and 77. This 
gave the society a legal status and was the first legal church society organ- 
ization in the to%vn. The trustees were divided into three classes, whose 
terms of office expired respectively in one, two and three years, thus mak- 
ing two trustees elected thereafter annually. First class, Fyler Dibblee, 
Silas Harris ; second class, Isaac Huntting, Cornelius Allerton ; third class, 
Henry Hoffmj n Israel Harris. The sale of the pews in the February pre- 
vious was by order of the "association committee," who signed the deeds 
which were principally made out February 21st, and whether or not there 
was any legal right under the sale before the society was incorporated 
March 4, 1816, is a question of no importance now. The actors did not 
question it then, it seems, and we now can only say "they did it." The 
election of trustees disposed of the association committee, and thereafter 
the trustees controlled the church property and the pulpit too. 

Prom what is known there was no Presbyterian service in Pine Plains 
previous to 1810 or '12. A Rev. Mr. Barnum, the first I know of, about 
this time preached for awhile in the ball room of the Ketterer old Hotel 
which had been built a few years previous. He boarded at the time with 



THE CHURCHES. 175 

Isaiah Dibble who lived two miles south of the village on the Dibble-Tan- 
ner farm. He preached at Smithfield at the same time alternately. From 
this time to 1815 irregular Presbyterian service was held by Revs. Mr. 
Crane, Mr. Cuyler, Dutch Reformed, Pokeepsie, Rev. Eliphlet Price of 
Fishkill, Rev Eli Hyde of Smithfield, and Rev. John Clark of Pleasant 
Vall ey. To Mr. Clark more than any one must be awarded the praise of 
keeping alive and increasing the interest in this denomination during 1815 
and '16. He was chosen to dedicate the church, which was a compliment 
to his ability and popularity. Thus the society had a legal existence, the 
building completed and dedicated and ready for services. March 11, 1816, 
one week after this society had organized under the law, a meeting was 
called and passed this resolution : 

Resolved, that the ministers hereafter to be employed to preach in this 
meeting house shall be selected either from the Presbyterian Society, from 
the Dutch Reformed church, from the German Lutheran church, or from 
the Episcopal church, and no other. 

This was the first action of the church in regard to its ministers, and 
Mj\_Claxk, _af -Pleasant Valley, seems to have been succeeded by Rev. Mr. 
Blair in the Presbyterian denomination. He preached here about six 
months. This resolution shut out the Universalists and created discussion 
and some ill feeling, so abovit a year after, the society had a meeting, 
March 4, 1817, notice of which had been given from the pulpit by Rev. Mr. 
Gale, a Lutheran, who was then preaching once a month under the quar 
ter time plan. At this meeting it was '"Resolved, that ministers of the 
Gospel of all or any Christian denomination have the privilege to preach 
in the Pine Plains meeting house on week days or Sabbaths, if with the 
approbation of the Trustees or a major part of them, and if the pulpit 
is not occupied by ministers hired by the society." This opened the door 
again to the Universalists which a year ago they had closed against them. 
At this same meeting this resolution was passed: 

Resolved, that the Episcopalians and German Lutherans shall be enti- 
tled to one half of the money at eight dollars the Sabbath for each and ev- 
ery Sabbath they shall respectively have preached in this house. 

In addition to the two above resolutions five others were passed at this 
meeting referring principally to raising money on the pews, and specify- 
ing the sum of $8 a Sabbath as compensation. Moreover, at the beginning 
they adopted the method of raising money to pay the ministers by taxing 
the pews. This system was cumbersome by the sale and transfer of pews, 
changes by death and removal, and the fractional interests in a pew by 
one quarter, one-third or one-half ownership. It was complicated and 
mixed, and caused that careful and exact man, Aaron E. Winchell, the 
clerk and treasurer, a deal of trouble. Besides it w r as deemed unjust, as 
it compelled one denomination to pay for the preaching of some other. 
Four denominations claimed rights there, the Lutherans, Dutch Reformed, 
Presbyterians and Episcopalians, each having a Sabbath in a month, and 



176 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

whenever a month had five Sabbaths it was occupied by a Universalist or 
whoever should come. Henry Hoffman, Esq., strenuously opposed the 
plan of taxing the pews, on the ground tbat he as a Lutheran occupied the 
church only one Sabbath in four, or one quarter of the time, and therefore 
should not be compelled to pay for the preaching of the other three Sab- 
baths. He argued that it was unjust, and proposed that each denomina- 
tion pay for its own preaching. It was in this discussion he said to Fyler 
Dibblee, an Episcopalian, "Mr. Dibblee, you pay for your minister and I 
will pay for mine." The justice of his position was admitted, and in the 
main whatever pay the ministers received was by denominational subscrip- 
tion. 

Significant and pertinent to this is a paper drawn and circulated by 
Isaac Huntting, one of the leading men in this society as a Presbyterian. 
The paper is dated "Northeast, March 12, 1818," and reads: 

"We the subscribers residing in the vicinity of the Pine Plains meeting 
house society, wishing to have preaching of the Presbyterian order in said 
meeting house on Sundays one half of the ensuing year, or as near one 
half of the time as the funds raised will admit of, do for that purpose agree 
to pay to the trustees or the treasurer of the Pine Plains Meeting house society 
the sum set opposite our names on or before the first day of January next, 
thereby enabling and requiring said Trustees to engage the Reverend Mr. 
Price to preach in said Meeting house one-half of the time on Sundays the 
ensuing year. And in case that Mr. Price cannot be obtained that the 
Trustees procure preaching of the same order in said Meeting house as 
above stated, and that the Trustees provide a place for the boarding and 
convenience of the minister while he remains in this society to be paid out 
of the fund hereby raised, and that the Trustees attend to the collection of 
this subscription in due time and pay the same to the minister according 
to their engagement with him. That in case preaching of the above order 
should not be procured by said Trustees in said Meeting house the ensuing 
year, this subscription is void and not collectable." 

Isaac Huntting the year before was a trustee with Cornelius Allerton 
in the same class, and their terms expired March 11, 1818, the day the an- 
nual meeting for the election of trustees was held. They were with Es- 
quire Hoffman against raising money by taxing the pews pro rata on the 
sales. They resigned. William Stevenson and Henry I. Hiserodt, Jr., were 
elected trustees in their places, and when at this same meeting it was moved 
to raise two hundred dollars by taxing the pews it was voted down yeas 13, 
noes 19. This indexed the feeling, and so failing to raise money to pay for 
preaching at this meeting. Mr. Huntting the next day started out with the 
above subscription paper to pay for Presbyterian preaching. In this re- 
gard the subscribers' names are significant. They are Israel Reynolds $10, 
Isaac Huntting $15, A. E. Winchel$10, NilesHamvell$.'), Silas Harris $5. Jno. 
Couch $3, Justus Booth $10, Leonard Husted $5, Morse Couch $3, Jas. Lillie$2, 
William A. Stickle $5, John N. Stickle $5, Philip Pulver $3, Gurdon Picher 
$1, Benjamin Knickerbocker $2, Elisha Kenyon $1, John A. Turck $5, Pe- 
ter B. Knickerbocker $4, Nicholas Pulver $10, William Righter, Jr., $5, 




Isaac Hunttinq. 

[From a Portrait— 1820— See Lineage.] 



178 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Isaiah Dibble $12, Josiah Winans $3, William Winans $2, William Steven- 
son $5, Wm. W. Pulver $10, David Winans $3, Elijah Northrop $5, James 
G. Husted $3, Samuel Huntting $5, Peter Loux $5, William VanAlstyne 
$3, Robert Hoag $1, William H. Conklin $3, Peter W. Pulver $10, Walter 
Husted $1.50, Jacob Bockee $5, Jesse Tbompson $5, Francis Conor $1. 

The amount of subscription is $191.50, and the number and standing of 
the names indicate a good degree of interest in Presbyterian preaching at 
that time. The Rev. Eliphalet Price, Rev. Mr. Ford, Rev. Mr. Timlow and 
Rev. Robert G. Armstrong, each Presbyterian, Rev. Mr. Teal, Mr. Hendrick 
and Mr. Gale, Lutheran, Rev. Mr. Anthon, Episcopalian, and Rev. Mr. 
Buttolph, Baptist, each preached occasionally in 1817, '18 and '19, and prob- 
ably later. March 11, 1819, Rev. Robert G. Armstrong became the perma- 
nent Presbyterian minister. This was the next spring after the above sub- 
scription paper was circulated in September previous. Mr. Armstrong was 
ordained the following winter. Guidon Pitcher led the singing at his or- 
dination service, for which and other services in that line he was paid by 
Mr. A. E. Winchell & Co., Feb. 1820, four dollars. Mr. Armstrong organ- 
ized a church of Presbyterian denomination at this time, and several mem- 
bers were added during his ministry. "A. E. Winchell & Co." represent- 
ed a firm doing business at this time on the Charles Morgan corner. This 
firm received and paid out the church money, Mr. Winchell having per- 
sonal charge. There was a balance of salary due Mr. Armstrong at the end 
of his first year, March 11, 1820, of $47.69, which A. E. Winchell & Co. 
paid, the committee becoming responsible for this amount Mr. Arm- 
strong remained here three years, his third year expiring March 11, 1822, 
when the amount due him on salary was $49.00 which A. E. Winchell & 
Co. advanced. In addition to this amount other bills and expenses had 
been paid by A. E. Winchell & Co. during 1821 and '22, amounting m all to 
$60, the amount due A. E. Winchell & Co. at the end of the three years 
ministry of Rev. Mr. Armstrong. While here Mr Armstrong conducted a 
school in the basement of the brick Wilson house, now Mr. W. T. Meyer's. 
Among other patrons Isaiah Dibble and Isaac Huntting each sent children, 
and Robert Ham, now living about two miles west of the village, attended 
school there and probably is the only pupil now living who went to his 
school. 

Under the system adopted of taxing the pews, the society fund for the 
first two years was very small, not much over $190 a year— probably less — 
not enough to pay for preaching every Sabbath. The respective ministers 
received eight dollars a Sabbath, and if no church fund it was paid by indi- 
vidual donation. In 1817 Rev. Mr. Anthon, the Episcopal clergyman, held 
more services than all the others combined, and he was paid principally by 
the Ebenezer Dibblee family, except what they may have received from the 
Episcopal Church missionary fund. Henry Hoffman, Esquire, also with 
commendable zeal, was foremost to have a Lutheran minister and to see 



THE CHURCHES. 179 

that he was paid, which was done largely from his pocket and generous 
hospitality. Further, the denominational subscription paper of Isaac 
Hunttingin 1818 paved the way for the three years' preaching of Rev. Rob- 
ert G. Armstrong from 1819 to 1822. This in substance was the ecclesias- 
tical status pertaining to this church and community from 1816 to 1822. 
The legal status of the society was meanwhile preserved by the annual elec- 
tion of trustees, the original ' 'Association Committee" beoming obsolete at the 
legal incorporation March 4, 1816. March 11, 1824, an annual meeting was 
held at the meeting house, when this resolution was passed : 

'•That the balance (yet unpaid) of all rents heretofore levied by the so- 
ciety on the pews or seats of the Meeting House be relinquished by the so- 
ciety, the same having been due over six years, and consequently by limit- 
ation of statute not now collectible — i. e., outlawed." 

This resolution is a photograph of the financial condition of the society 
for six years, or since 1817, when they voted "no" on taxing the pews. The 
trustees in office at the close of this meeting were first-class, Elijah B. Nor 
throp, Jno. A. Turk ; second class, Jas. G. Husted, Henry Hoffman, Esq. ; third 
class, Henry I. Hiserodt, Henry Husted. The above meeting adjourned 
"to the eleventh day of March next," and here commences a gap of five 
years in the record, and Mr. Winchell being clerk meanwhile, there is 
strong presumption the adjourned meeting never met. 

The church matters and even its legal status seem to have been left to 
float, subject to the conflicting elements of personal and public opinion. 
The pew tax system, dead in spirit years since, the last annual meeting of 
March 11, 1824, had disposed of , not leaving even the semblance or form 
thereof. A minister of any denomination could preach in this house, but 
the preached-to must pay the preacher. Rev. Mr. Armstrong, for lack of 
pecuniary support and where he could have a larger field had gone to the 
new church at Smithfield, nearly all the members of his church organiza- 
tion here living in the south part of this town going with him to that 
church. In this five years gap of unrecorded time, preached Mr.Grear and 
Mr. Buttolph, Presbyterians; Mr. Kettle, Reformed Dutch: Mr. Morgan, 
Universalist ; Rev. Stephen Beach, who in 1823 was the first rector of the 
Episcopal church at Salisbury, and later Mr. Reed, Episcopal clergyman 
from Salisbury, and probably other ministers and clergymen. The diaries 
of each woidd be very interesting as to time and date of service. These 
are not at hand and I pass on to the next record of Mr. Winchell. Five 
years had passed without an election for trustees, and they weredn danger 
of losing the church property by default thereof. There were no trustees, 
as the terms of the three grades had all expired. April 25, 1829, ndtices 
were posted for a meeting at the church Saturday, May 16, 1829, at "4 
o'clock p. M., for the purpose of reincorporating said society according to 
the directions of said act. " 

The meeting was held according to appointment, and the proceedings 
were certified to by William H. Bostwick, commissioner, and recorded by 



180 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

the county clerk in book No. 1 of church incorporations, pages 96 and 97, 
the whole proceedings having the same formality as at the first incorpora- 
tion, March 4, 1816. The trustees were, first class, Henry Hoffman, Silas 
Harris ; second class, Adam Strever, Aaron E. Winchell ; third class, Reu- 
ben W. Bostwick, Cornelius Allerton, and the church was again on its legal 
feet. Trustees were elected annually thereafter to 1836. At the annual 
meeting, May 16, of that year, Mr. Winchell offered his resignation as 
trustee and as clerk, and Epaphroditus Taylor was elected to both offices in 
his place. 

In 1835 or '6, the first repairs were made on the church. The high pul- 
pit was lowered, and the stove pipes conducted to a drum in front of and 
above the pulpit and then to the chimney. The old foot stove, with a cup 
of live coals in it, replenished from the church stove and taken into the pew 
to keep the feet warm during the long sermon, had been and still was an 
indispensable requisite for comfort. The 'change of the stove pipes from 
out the windows to the drum inside the church was for the better in heat- 
ing the church, especially the galleries. At this time Edmund Reynolds do- 
nated the church 1 tell n< >w used. It was a novel thing then to ' 'hear the bell. " 
It was rung on all occasions of celebration and tolled at every decease and 
funeral besides the call to church services. It was the first church bell 
brought to Pine Plains. About ten years later other repairs and changes 
were made at an expense of about $800. The pew doors were taken off 
among other improvements at this time and the building painted inside and 
outside. At or near this time the present gallery organ was purchased, 
which I notice in passing. The organ was a No. 4 of Mr. Erben, 172 Center 
Street, New York, price $400, and purchased by Henry Sheldon, of New 
York, as agent. It is technically described, "one set of keys from CC toF 
alto, case to be 8 feet G inches high, 5 feet inches wide. 3 feet 6 inches 
deep, and to have six stops, to wit: 1 open diapason from tenor F; 2, stop 
diapason from tenor F; 3, stop diapason bass; 4, fifteenth stop all 
through; 5, principal treble; 6, principal bass ; a pedal to take off principal 
and fifteenth. The swell to operate upon all the stops in the entire compass 
of the organ. Case to be imitation rosewood, mahogany, black- walnut, or 
any other color, also gilt front pipes. " These were the original six stops, 
and an effort was made to add a trumpet stop at an additional expense of 
fifty dollars. Failing to raise this additional amount the "principal bass" 
No. 6 was left out and the trumpet substituted in place thereof. The sub- 
scription paper has this heading : 

"We the subscribers agree to pay the money opposite our names for the 
purchase of the above described organ. The money to be collected on 
condition that a sufficient amount be subscribed or otherwise raised." 

Then follows an equivalent clause : 

"And it is further understood that the said organ so purchased shall 
belong to the purchasers thereof, their heirs and assigns, and be controlled 
by a majority of the money invested." 



THE CHURCHES 181 

The subscribers were Hiram Wilson $30, A. & J. A. Thompson $30, C. 
Burnap $30, Wm. Eno$30, R. W. Bostvvick $20, Levi Best $20, Backus Culver 
$10, H. C. MeyersflO, E. Huntting $10, A. Dibble $10, W. Pulver $16, Ju- 
lia Reynolds $20, S. Deuel $11, Win. VanAlstyne $7, Egbert Smith $10, Ez- 
ra Hoag $15. L. D. Hedges $10, A. A. Strever $10, Benjamin Carpenter $5, 
Julia Dibble $3, Catharine Hoffman $1, Anthony Hoffman $15, Margaret 
Snyder $1, Sarah Nye $1, Rachel Taylor $2, F. T. Ham $2, Fanny Strever 
$1, Richard Ham $1, Eliza Hungerford $2, Talmadge W. Germond $3, Jno. 
Teter $5, Arby Piatt $2, Wm. Hoffman $1, Mrs. Isaac Smith $2. 50, Mary Ann 
Knickerbocker $1, John Righter $1, Joel Miller $1, Einott Woodin $1, Asel 
R. Herrick $1, Catharine Lasher $2, Catharine Snyder $3. Reuben Best $5, 
Doct. H. F.Smythe $2, Philip Stickle $2, Jav Deuel $3, Reuben Stocking $1, 
John P. White $1, Dugal Thompson $2, Samuel Huntting $2, Mary Smith 
$1, Henry Strever $5. Total $331.50. This was the amount "paid" on the 
subscription, and twenty-eightdollarswas unpaid. Reuben W. Bostwickpaid 
the organ bill by advancing $83.00, about forty dollars of which came from 
his own pocket, never refunded, in addition to his twenty dollars sub- 
scribed. Cornelius Hoysradt paid his subscript ion by bringing the organ 
and man from the River. The organ is now (1890) used, having done ser- 
vice a half century. 

The building lot of the church as originally purchased left no room for 
a shed, the necessary adjunct of a country church. Church sheds are 
necessities for it shows practical unbelief in Christian charity and Christian 
economy — economy enters into the creed of the Christian — to leave horses 
and harness, wagons and whips and robes in the shivering cold and storm 
in winter, while the owners thereof are inside the comfortably heated 
church with warm hearts, and again in the summer, cool and comfortable 
with a fan breeze, while the horses and other equipments are out in the scorch- 
ing sun which checks the buggy paint and harness, and frets the horses. This 
is expensive, and not Christian economy. Moreover the residents on the 
street in front of whose dwellings the horses were hitched to a post, were 
annoyed by the stamping and dust and flies. So the ladies too want- 
ed a shed, for be it said they were not lacking in Christian econo- 
my and charity for the suffering horses, manifest later on. Mr. Ed- 
ward Huntting and Mr. Backus Culver interested themselves especially 
in this enterprise in the fall of 1850. The land adjoining the church lot on the 
north was deemed accessible and convenient. Doctor Cornelius Allerton, 
eminent for ability in his profession, and noted for marked personal pecu- 
liarity, was the owner. Mr. Huntting and Mr. Culver were his patrons 
professionally, and on this account had reason to hope for favor above oth- 
er men. The doctor prized his land. Mr. Huntting approached him and 
made known his business. The doctor was silent about a minute, then ad- 
dressing the enquirer said: "Sir, I don't know about that. I have no spe- 
cial regard for that church, sir." After a friendly talk the doctor gave his 




Polly Smith, Wife of Peter Husted. 

[See Lineage.] 



THE CHURCHES. 183 

consent, saying, "I will sell you all you want." "What will you charge 
us, doctor, for half an acre?" "Stake out your ground, sirs," said the doctor, 
"I will then set the price. " Mr. Culver and Mi - . Huntting set stakes for 
the boundaries of the shed lot and informed the doctor. With cane in hand 
he looked at the enclosure. "Well, doctor," said Mr. Huntting, "what are 
you going to charge us?" "Two hundred and fifty dollars, sir." "When 
do you want your money?" "Next April will do." "Will you take my 
check and Backus Culver's for the amount?" "I will sir." "Make out the 
deed, doctor," said Mr. Huntting. The deed is dated Nov. 4th, 1850. Back- 
us Culver and Edward Huntting are the parties of the second part, the con- 
sideration $2~)0, and the doctor received the individual checks — half each — 
for the amount, and the site was secured. Not resting here Mr. Culver suggest- 
ed a Fourth of July celebration to pay for the shed lot, and preparations were 
made accordingly. The day came and a large attendance. It was held on 
the grounds of the present school house lot. The maids, wives and widows of 
the society made manifest their love and affection for the suffering horse, 
buggy and harness, if nothing more. Edward W. Simmons, Esq., of Mil- 
lerton, orated. The celebrators lunched heartily, and the day's doings 
footed $170, which went into the hands of Mr. Huntting and Mr. Culver re- 
spectively, half each, and this was all they ever received for the shed lot. 
A few years later a cheap shed was built on the lot. and when the snow fell 
upon the roof increasing in depth and weight, a large portion of the frame 
and the roof fell in. It was rebuilt with better supports which have thus far 
(1896) withstood the elements, This being done the interests of Mr. Huntt- 
ing and Mr. Culver were conveyed to the trustees, Mr. Culver meantime 
having conveyed his interest to Cyrus Burnap and moved to Amenia. Thus 
it came to pass that the church has one hundred feet of substantial and 
comfortable shed. In 1894 it was again covered with a shingle roof. 

The church, after the last repairs in '40s, already noticed, stood substantial- 
ly the same in all respects until 1879. a full generation of over thirty years, 
when it was rebuilt. The last service in the old church was held Sunday, 
July G. 1879. There were mingled feelings of regret and joy. The old time 
worshippers suppressed their tears at the coming destruction of its antique in- 
ternal architecture and all therein by the vandal carpenters, to say nothing 
of the crowded mental reminiscences of scenes sad and joyful which time 
and time again had there occurred, while the younger worshippers not yet 
in the brown and yellow leaf of autumn, rejoiced at the tearing down of 
the "horrid thing " and •something "modern" in convenience and architec- 
ture erected in its place. 

The services were conducted by Rev. William N. Sayre, its time- 
honored pastor. On the platform on either side of the desk were two large 
vases of white lilies. After the invocation the psalm commencing " How 
amiable are Thy tabernacles" was read by the pastor. The prayer was 
fervent and impressive with a special petition that " no accident may be- 



184 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

fall or interrupt the laborers and the glory of the latter house exceed the 
glory of the former." The first two hymns were sung by the choir and 
congregation to Peterboro and Pleyel's Hymn respectively. "Influence 
after death" was the theme of the discourse from Heb. xi, 4: "He being 
dead yet speaketh." The last hymn was sung to Uxbridge, closing with 
the cloxology to Old Hundred, the benediction followed and the last ser- 
vice in the "Pine Plains meeting house" had ended. 

The week following, repairs were commenced by Hezekiah Andrews, of 
Hillsdale, Columbia County, the contracting carpenter. Sixteen feet were 
added to the north end, same width and height as the main building, mak- 
ing the main church 36 x 66. Adjoining this on the north was a lecture 
room 28x36, an entire new building. The galleries and eighteen columns 
and pews were taken out of the old church and a "horseshoe" gallery 
at the south or entrance end built in place of the old end and side galle- 
ries. Long windows of stained glass were put in the sides and the old bel- 
fry and steeple taken down and a new one erected By October of the same 
year the building had sufficiently advanced to be comfortable for a "fair," 
the work of the ladies to raise a fund for the furnishings of the new church 
and lecture room, cushions, carpets, settees, lamps, &c, an estimated ex- 
pense of $800. The fair was duly noticed and held Wednesday and Thurs- 
day, October 8th and 9th, 1879. The receipts were $450, expenses $70. 
This, added to the amount previously raised, all by the ladies, was sufficient 
to put the church in readiness for dedication. 

By December the church was ready for the dedicatory services, which 
were held December 9, 1879, at 2 p. m. An hour before the time the church, 
having a seating for two hundred and eighty below and forty above besides 
the organ and choir, was filled. At two the service commenced by singing 
the doxology "Praise God," to "Old Hundred." Invocation by Mr. Gil- 
man, scripture reading by Mr. Westervelt, of Millerton, and prayer by 
Mr. Thomas, of Amenia. Rev. L. D Bevan, D. D., of New York city, 
preached the dedicatory sermon from I. Timothy, iii. 15: ' The House of 
God which is the church of the living God." The leading thought in his 
introduction was that the various forms of church government and shades 
of belief in the different denominations were essential and necessary to the 
building of a complete and perfect church. This he illustrated by the ani- 
mal kingdom in its great variety of form and habit, and of the vegetable 
kingdom in its variety of trees and flowers. ' 'Were the world full of roses" 
said he, "man would long to escape by suicide." Variety in all was essen- 
tial to perfection. Then touching the special occasion he dwelt largely on 
Presbytenanism— first its' order in all things especially in its form of gov- 
ernment — second its doctrines and belief. He believed in Presbyterian- 
ism, it was his choice, and in his discourse dealt some slashes and sarcasms 
at other denominations, which, he asserted in his introduction were all do- 
ing a good work, and as he illustrated in figure, were essential for a com- 



THE CHURCHES. 185 

plete and perfect church. It was evident that he was a Presbyterian well 
•dyed, and the majority of his hearers were disappointed in the drift of his 
■discourse. He removed all doubt, however, in one regard. The building 
was no longer a "union meeting house," and if not dedicated to God, it was 
to Presbyterianism. Perhaps he was not far out of the way after all. He 
preached again in the evening, taking his text from Ephesians, hi, 14: "For 
this cause I bow my knees unto the Father." Prayer was his theme. 
"Prayers are photographs of men's lives. To know Paul, study his prayers, 
and so of all men." His discourse was able, interesting, full of apt Illus- 
trations, and to the point. In the afternoon he talked, in the evening 
preached. In the afternoon a Presbyterian, in the evening an Evangelist. 
In the afternoon a sectarian, in the evening a liberal, warm-hearted Chris- 
tian. In the afternoon he stood with the hierarchj-. in the evening he min- 
gled with the common people. In the afternoon he was embassador pleni- 
potentiary from the Presb5 r terian government, in the evening he was Doc- 
tor Bevan. He spoke with energy, his instruction was profitable, the 
large audience was attentive and left the church with commendations. Mr. 
Edward Huntting was present at this dedication, and to my knowledge the 
•only one who was present also at the dedication of the old "Union" church 
in 1816, by Rev Mr. Clark. The repairs and rebuilding of 1879 made 
the church building as it is now (189(5) except the small addition 12 x 18 to 
the north end of the lecture room which was built in 1894. 
PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETY ECCLESIASTICAL. 

The organization of a Presbyterian society in this village by Rev. 
Robert G. Armstrong in 1820 or '21 was noticed incidentally under the 
head of the "Union Meeting House." There is no record to my knowl- 
edge of this organization, and if there had been the organization was lost 
or broken during the ten or twelve years succeeding it, when Rev. William 
N. Sayre came in 1833. The trustees of the meeting house society at that 
time by classes were, first class, Adam Strever, Aaron E. Winchell ; sec- 
ond class, Reuben W. Bostvvick, Cornelius Allerton; third class, Henry 
Strever, Epaphroditus Taylor. The Rev. Augustus Wackerhagen, a Lu- 
theran minister from Germantown, commenced preaching here this year 
or near it, by appointment, one Sabbath in every month, and continued in 
this manner with few omissions eighteen years. 

June 4, 1833, William N. Sayre and Sarah A. Marshall, daughter of 
John Marshall, of Salt Point, were married, and very soon after he was 
ordained to preach by the North River Presbytery at their session at Ame- 
nia. While there he made an appointment to preach at North East Cen- 
ter, the last Sabbath in June, and left Amenia to visit his parents at Rensse- 
laerville, Albany Co On his return to fill the appointment at North East 
Center, he stopped at the now Stissing House, then kept by Henry C. 
Meyers. He learned there was no stated preaching here, was introduced 
to Aaron E. Winchell, one of the trustees, and made an appointment to 



186 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

preach the third Sabbath in June of that year, He filled the appointment, 
taking I. Corinthians, iii, 13: "Everyman's work shall be made manifest, 
and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." This was his 
first sermon in Pine Plains. He was then living at Pleasant Valley. Not 
long after Mr. Allen Thompson, of Pine Plains, called upon him at Pleas- 
ant Valley, requesting him to make another appointment at Pine Plains as 
he did not hear him. Mr. Sayre made and filled another appointment. In 
August following Mr. Sayre, having recovered from a severe and dangerous 
sickness at his sister's in the town of Washington, attended a camp meeting 
on the west side of Stissing Mountain. He met Mr. Thompson before going 
home, and by invitation spent the night with him. Before leaving the 
next morning he made an appointment at Pine Plains the first Sabbath in 
September, 1833. This appointment he fulfilled, when he preached the 
first sermon of his unbroken pastorate of fifty years succeeding. His text 
was Ps. ciii, 19: "The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and 
His kingdom ruleth over all." The theme was "Divine Moral Govern, 
ment." 

This was deemed missionary ground by the Presbytery for Presbyte- 
rian work. It is not possible from this distance to realize nor easy to im- 
agine a more mixed and divided community in church matters. Doctrinal 
points were foremost. Christian charity there was little unless the eyes 
and ears were closed, and that was impossible. The three Pine Plains 
church societies. Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian, were each in its in- 
fancy ©r about to be born, and the evil tongue of sectarianism and gossip 
was without restraint to gain one or prejudice another, thereby to swell its 
respective membership. They had been educated to this by the experience 
of the previous sixteen years in the union church association, and experi- 
ence is not easily forgotten whether good or ill, in this case more ill than 
good. When he came the church building was under quarternary govern- 
ment, thus giving him only one Sabbath a month unless omissions occurred 
by other pastors. The arrangement was a bad one for all in that it was det- 
rimental to the unity and harmony in doctrine essential to the prosperity 
of every church. Mr. Sayre was the only minister of the four denomina- 
tions living on the ground, and this, too, gave an imaginary cause for sus- 
picion and bitterness against him. In it all the poisoned tongue of calum- 
ny which recoils upon itself was busy, and the good that might have been 
done to each and by each was neutralized. A less persevering and resolute 
man than he would have been discouraged and gone to a more peaceful 
field. But he was enabled to endure the trials of these first years of his. 
ministry, and lived to see the day of unity and peace. It is an unpleasant 
chapter. The memories of the actors now deceased were blotted at their 
burial, and the memories of the few now living rejoice that those bitter 
days have passed. 

At the annual meeting of the meeting house society in 1836, Aaron E. 



THE CHURCHES 187 

"Winchell resigned as trustee and clerk, and ten years passed without an 
election of trustees. Meanwhile the terms of all the classes of trustees had 
expired. May 17, 1847, the next meeting for the election of trustees was. 
held, Levi Best and Ezra B. Hoag the presiding officers. The trustees elect- 
ed were, first class, William Eno, Anthony Hoffman; second class, John 
A. Thompson, Ezra B. Hoag ; third class, Hiram Wilson, Reuben W. Bost- 
wick. E. Taylor was appointed clerk. Twelve days later (May 29, 1847); 
a meeting of the trustees was held at the store of Reuben W. Bostwick, 
Mr. Bostwick being chosen chairman. Ezra B. Hoag offered this resolu- 
tion : 

" Resolved that no minister of any denomination shall preach in the 
Pine Plains meeting house without the consent of the trustees or a majority 
of them first had and obtained." 

Mr. Hoag then offered this resolution, which was carried : 

"Resolved that the Rev. William N. Say re occupy the pulpit of the 
Pine Plains meeting house statedly every Sabbath and that he be considered 
the regular minister of the church congregation or society attending di- 
vine worship in said church." 

Mr. Eno said "he had heard that Rev. Augustus Wackerhagen had 
made an appointment for the 4th Sabbath in June, nex't," and made a mo- 
tion to this effect, which was carried. Mr. Anthony Hoffman made a mo- 
tion, which was carried, that Mr. Wackerhagen "be permitted to preach 
every 4th Sabbath in each month in case he chose to make the appoint- 
ment." As Mr. Wackerhagen preached but a very few times after this, 
the church legally was left to Mr. Sayre as the stated and regular minister, 
and thereby became a Presbyterian church from the date of these resolu- 
tions, May 29, 1847. The church had indeed become Presbyterian virtual- 
ly before this meeting, for the Baptists and Methodists had each a church 
and society in the village, and the German Reformed had gone to the 
" Veddar church," and the Episcopalians were about to nucleate in Bethel 
church. 

The first organization of the Presbyterian society under Rev. Wm. N. 
Sayre was May 24, 1834, consisting of seven members, Elijah B. Northrop, 
John A. Turck, Rhoda Couch, Salome Husted, Johanna Northrop, Clarissa 
Lillie and Chloe Sutherland. Elijah B. Northrop was made elder, which 
office he held until his death. The church record gives the growth and 
condition of the society from this time to the present. But in passing I 
notice a summary of the status of the church taken from a printed sermon 
preached by Mr. Sayre August 31, 1873, on the anniversary of his forty 
years' ministry. "There have been added since 1833, 240; in 1836, 19, in 
1839, 40, in 1843, 15, in 1850, 8, in 1856, 13, in 1859, 16, in 1864, 32, in 1867, 
12. Of these numbers 160 were added in seasons of revival. The remain- 
ing 80 were received in numbers from one to four scattered along through 
the whole period of my ministry. Of these 160 have deceased or removed 
from within our bounds, leaving ninety resident members. I have bap- 



188 HTSTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

tised 100 adults and 43 infants. " Mr. Sayre ten years later preached his 
fiftieth anniversary sermon when he resigned. There were then about 100 
members. The sermon was preached Sunday, June 24, 1883, and the 
church was filled by the citizens of Pine Plains and adjacent towns in this 
county and Columbia. The other churches in the village held no service, 
their pastors and congregations uniting with him and his people in cele- 
brating this event. The service commenced by the choir chanting "As the 
hart panteth for the water brooks. " Mr. Sayre made the invocation, the 
choir and congregation sang "Praise God from Whom all Blessings flow," 
and the pastor and people repeated the Apostles' Creed. The scripture 
lesson was read by Mr. Sayre, the choir sang the hymn "LetZion's Watch- 
men all Awake," and prayer was offered by Rev. J. W. Selleck, pastor of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. The hymn, " Rock of Ages, " was sung 
by the choir, after which Mr. Sayre announced his text. 



Mt 

W 



CHAPTER XV. 
SEMI CENTENNIAL SERMON OF REV. WILLIAM N. SAYRE. 

Acts 20: 18: Ye know from the first day that I came unto you, after- 
what manner I have been with you at all seasons. 

Rarely does the instance occur in which a pastor is called to occupy the- 
position which I do to day ; for few, indeed, are the instances in which 
one of Christ's Under Shepherds has the oversight, and the privilege of 
preaching the Gospel to one people for half a century. 

Having passed over the various stages of a fifty years' pastorate with 
this churcli and congregation, I fancy myself as occupying a high eleva- 
tion at the close of my stated ministry, and looking back over fifty years 
past, refreshing my memory and yours with such occurrences and changes 
as have characterized and marked that period. 

In the month of June in the year of our Lord 1833, I was licensed t<> 
preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of North River at Ameniaville. I was 
solicited to make an appointment to supply the pulpit of the church at 
North East Center, as I recollect, the third Sabbath in June I made such 
an appointment, but before the day came to fulfill it, I visited my early home 
in the town of Rensselaer ville, Albany County, some fifty milesfrom North 
East Center. In going to that place I had to pass through the village of 
Pine Plains. Calling at the Meyer's Hotel I was informed that there was 
no stated preaching in the village and was requested to make an appoint- 
ment to preach to the people. To the request I assented and an appointment 
was made which I fulfilled, as I now recollect, the last Sabbath in June. 
I supplied the pulpit again one Sabbath in August, and again the first Sab- 
bath in September, from which time to the present day, I have had the 
oversight of this church and congregation as its pastor. Mark the Provi- 
dence of God in directing me to my future field of labor, for had I not 
made an appointment to preach at North East Center, or had I not passed 
through this village in reaching that appointment or had I not called at 
the Public House on my way, the whole course of my life would doubtless 
have been otherwise than it has been. 

When I commenced my ministry here in the year 1833, the church 
building was in a very different condition from what you see it to be in to- 
day. It had been painted, but after sixteen years but little of that paint 
remained. There was a high fence in front of the church, in a very dilap- 
idated condition. There were two small box stoves, in the front end of the 
church, the pipes going out of the window, for the heating of the build 
ing. 

You may well suppose that very little of that heat on a cold Sabbath 




REV. WILLIAM N. SAYRE. 



THE CHURCHES. 191 

day ever reached the pulpit sufficiently to render it a comfortable place. 
The pulpit was reached by a flight of stairs of some ten steps at least, there- 
by placing the preacher in a very elevated position. If at no other time, 
the people on the Sabbath had occasion to "look up" to him; for only in 
looking up could they see him. Such was the condition of the church 
building in 1838. 

During the closing years of my ministry it has been rebuilt, sixteen 
feet added to the audience room, with a convenient audience room in the 
rear, and both appropriately furnished and paid for, with sheds for the ac- 
commodation of teams — a manifest improvement. 

Before I came hei'e in 1833, the whole town of Pine Plains and An- 
cram and most of Milan presented an uncultivated missionary field. The 
.Sabbath came and passed as in other places, but no Sabbath bell called the 
people to assemble together for the public worship of God. In the village 
there was no resident pastor in either Pine Plains or Ancram, and I think 
not in Milan. In this large but uncultivated field there were but few pro- 
fessing Christians. Little attention was paid to the religious training of 
the young, by organized Sabbath schools. To-day we have four houses of 
public worship in this village, in three of which the word is statedly 
preached by three resident pastors. There is also in the town three other 
church buildings, one at Bethel, one at Pulver's Corner, and one on the 
hill west of the village. There are now four houses for public worship in 
the town of Ancram, in all of which there is stated preaching. There are 
two resident pastors, three organized churches, and several flourishing 
Sabbath schools. There has been a steady advance in the contributions for 
religious purposes, during the fifty years past. 

Some three years after my coming here, a church building was erected, 
and a church organized at Pleasant Plains, some eighteen miles from Pine 
Plains in the town of Clinton. I supplied the pulpit of that church once in 
two weeks in the afternoon for two years. During these two years, I 
preached in protracted meetings for three weeks at a time on two several 
occasions. In both, the Lord working with me, the word was attended 
with gracious results. Some eighty members were added to the church du- 
ring those two years. The distance being so great, and the church having 
gained strength for self support, I ceased to supply them. A Pastor was 
settled, and the church of Pleasant Plains has been a good substantial or- 
ganization to the present time. On several occasions since, I have aided 
the pastors of that church in conducting religions services in seasons of 
revival. Some 150 members were added to that church as the result of my 
labors in these protracted religious services. 

Soon after I entered upon my work in Pine Plains, there came to me a 
Macedonian call from the town of Ancram. Ancram is a large town, and 
as the land was mostly held under life leases, was in secular improvement 
and religions culture, fifty year behind the times. 



192 HISTORY OF FINE PLAINS. 

Having no church building, and no resident minister, I was called into 
all parts of the town to officiate at weddings and funerals. I preached im 
their school houses (such as they were) and in their groves, and in a few 
years I succeeded in the erection of a church building. It was not long, 
however, before three other houses for religious worship were erected. I 
continued to supply a small congregation at Ancram in the afternoon of 
the Sabbath for some thirty years, until my health measurably failed, when 
the members of this church residing in that town were organized into a 
separate church, and have since enjoyed the services of a stated supply. 
Thus, a mission field was cultivated, a house of worship erected, and a 
church organized without aid from any missionary board. 

During the first twenty-five years of my ministry, I was frequently in- 
vited to assist my brethren in conducting protracted meetings. More than 
a whole year of Aveeks I was employed in such service. In Pleasant Valley, 
Pleasant Plains, Freedom Plains, New Paltz, Sharon, Red Hook, Ger- 
mantown, North East, and Amenia, I attended such meetings, and in some 
of them several times. Hundreds of members were added to the church- 
es as the fruits of such labor. In these seasons of revival, I witnessed the 
wonder-working power of God's Spirit, accompanying the Word of the 
Gospel in the conversion of souls. In the winter of 1837 and '38 I labored 
in protracted effort some eight weeks, three at Pleasant Plains, and five 
in this church. These services, with their attendant results, are among 
my most pleasant recollections. 

There has been a steady and healthy growth of both church and con- 
gregation during the entire period of my ministry. While death and re- 
movals have every year depleted both church and congregation others have 
come in to more than fill their places, so that whereas, we had twelve at 
our first communion, some three hundred have since been added, about 
80 of whom are still living within our bounds. At our communion the 
last Sabbath the body pews of the church were well filled with communi- 
cants. The congregation was never stronger, both in pecuniary resources 
and in numbers, than at the present time. My successor in this pulpit will 
find the state of things very different from what they were when I first 
entered it. 

My ministry has been anti-sectarian and Catholic. Though denomi- 
nationally a Presbyterian in my religious sentiments and preferences, I 
have never sought to proselyte others to my peculiar faith. I have accord- 
ed to others what I claim for myself, viz : liberty of conscience and the 
right of private judgment. I have also carefully avoided the agitation of 
such matters as in their very nature, were calculated to create parties in 
the congregation, and thus lead to alienation and division. I have never 
made any one thing a hobby in my preaching ; nor have I either adopted 
or made war with the various issues that from time to time have had 
their advocates. 



THE CHURCHES. 193 

My policy has been rather to inculcate truth, to instill correct princi- 
ples into the public mind, than to be constantly warring with error. In 
my pulpit discourses I have aimed to give instruction in Bible truth. My 
preaching has not been what would be characterized as sensational. My 
philosophy is that the human will is to be reached and controlled through 
the emotions, and these are aroused by addressing truth to the under- 
standing. I have therefore addressed my preaching largely to the reason 
and understanding of my hearers. I have also aimed at appropriateness, 
in my preaching ; having respect to time, place, circumstances and occa- 
sion. 

In my long pastorate of fifty years, I have always sought in my preach- 
ing to give variety, to expound Bible doctrine, to dwell upon differing 
phases of religious experience, and to press upon the consideration of my 
hearers the various duties of practical religion. 

With reference to the subjects of Temperance and human slavery, I 
have pursued a course which upon the review, commends itself to my riper 
judgment. For the manner in which I have fulfilled my ministry, and for 
the improvement my people have made of it, both must give account at 
the bar of righteous judgment. 

During the period of my ministry I have united in wedlock some 700 
persons, and have conducted service at some 800 funerals. In very many 
cases the conjugal relation of those united in wedlock, has already been 
dissolved by the death of one or both of the parties. Among those who 
have been borne to their resting place in the grave, I name a few who were 
heads of families, and far advanced in years when I entered my ministry: 
Henry Hoffman, Jonathan Duel, Peter Ham, Stephen Eno, Henry Keifer, 
Reuben W. Bostvvick, Epaphroditus Taylor, Allen Thompson, Dr. Cornelius 
Allerton, David Dakin, Elijah Northrop, Silas Harris, Cornelius Husted, 
Joshua Culver, John Righter, Henry C. Meyers, Cyrus Burnap, Justus, 
Boothe, Amos Bryan, Adam A. Strever and William W. Pulver. There 
being no other minister for many years in either Pine Plains- or Ancram, 
I was called to officiate on funeral occasions very generally in both of these 
towns. In three farm houses upon adjoining farms in the town of An- 
cram, I have attended some 21 funerals. 

Notice some changes that characterize the past fifty years in the 
bounds of this congregation. Three fourths of the houses in the village 
have been built since 1833. The greater part of those who composed the 
congregation during the first years of my ministry have either deceased, 
or removed to other parts. Very few who now compose the congregation 
were stated hearers even twenty-five years ago. Several new families' 
have within a few years been added to the congregation. Of the heads of 
families in this village in 1883, other than Mrs. Sayre and myself, two only 



194 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

survive, Mrs. Harriet Bostwick and Mr. Arba Piatt. Every house has 
changed its occupant save that of Mrs. Bostwick and my own. Three 
churches have been erected in two of which the word is statedly preached 
by pastors, in the third occasionally. 

In the place of a small burying ground of about an half acre in 1833, 
we now have our Evergreen Cemetery, containing some eight or nine 
acres, and already dotted over with the monuments of the departed. In 
few of the depositories of the dead are there as many and as valuable mon- 
uments, as in our .own Evergreen Cemetery. 

In 1833 we had no circulating library. We now have one consisting 
of many hundreds of volumes. We then had no railroads. Many here 
will remember the old Stage Coach, which conveyed passengers to Pough- 
keepsie one day and returned the next, and with a worn out and slow 
team. Now we have two railroads passing through the village, and a 
third coming within three miles of it. These several roads render it quite 
convenient for farmers to market their produce, and to the citizens they 
afford facilities for traveling purposes. 

In 1833 we had no street lamps. With our shade trees, in the absence 
of the moonlight, our streets were very dark. Now, on a dark night, our 
streets are very well lighted by some forty or fifty lamps. In 1833, and for 
many years, there was no flagging upon our sidewalks : now we have sev- 
eral hundred rods of well-laid flagging, for the comfort and convenience of 
the citizens in traveling our streets. 

Until within a few years we had no school of instruction higher than 
our common public school. Now t we have the Seymour Smith Seminary, 
affording special facilities to the young for obtaining an education. Such 
are among the changes that have characterized the past fifty years. Look- 
ing back over a fifty year pastorate, I am duly conscious of many short- 
comings and imperfect service, and yet, there are many other things which 
I call to mind with a good degree of satisfaction. My entire ministry to 
one people has not been because no door of access to other pulpits has been 
open to me, for during the first twenty five years of my ministry I re- 
ceived some half dozen calls to other churches. These, all, were declined, 
and to-day finds me occupying the same pulpit, which I entered fifty years 
ago. This in part may be the result of advice received from an honored 
Father in the ministry, who had been the successful pastor of one church 
for twenty five years. Being in my family for about one week soon after 
I came here, he advised me not to be easily discouraged in my work, by 
reason of difficulties to be overcome, and not without due consideration, 
and for good cause, to abandon my chosen field of labor. Having entered 
this field when it was emphatically missionary ground : having organized 
a church and served as its pastor for half a century, I shall still take a deep 
and heartfelt interest in its future growth and prosperity. I preach no 
farewell sermon, for I propose to spend the remainder of my life with you, 



THE CHURCHES. 195 

and among you. I came here and planted my standard, as a young man, 
and behold ! fifty years have been added to my life and have passed away 
like the dream of the night, and I am now classed among the old men of 
this town. It is not at all probable that this church and congregation will 
very soon, if ever, have another pastor whose ministry shall be extended 
through half a century. Such long pastorates have become quite uncom- 
mon in these modern days. Nothing less than the spirit of prophecy can 
foresee what shall be the future history of this church, and who shall next 
occupy its pulpit, and how long he shall remain among you. In the rapid 
flight of time, another fifty years will soon have passed by, and most of us 
who are here assembled to-day will have been gathered to our fathers, and 
numbered with the silent dead. 

New responsibility now rests upon the church and congregation. You 
have a pastor to seek, his salary to raise, and a home for him (if he shall 
have a family) to be provided. In meeting this responsibility, you will 
need to exercise sound judgment and be favored with wisdom from above. 
In the whole matter of settling and sustaining a pastor, be united, be gen- 
erous, and when he shall have been settled over you attend statedly 
upon his ministrations, and in all his labors among you accord to him a 
hearty co-operation. Look not for perfection in any man. Even partially 
sanctified humanity is imperfect, and ministers aie but men. Let ground- 
less criticism give place to fervent prayer for your pastor, and to earnest 
support, if you would render his ministrations profitable to the people. 

I now close this review of my fifty years ministry among you, by sim- 
ply expressing my great satisfaction in the firm belief, that though I cease 
to be your pastor, I still share your confidence, and your best wishes, as 
was made very manifest by tlie large gathering of my friends, and the ex- 
pressions of good will which Mrs. Sayre and myself received at the celebra- 
tion of our Golden Wedding on Tuesday the fifth of the present month of 
June, and may the blessing of a covenant keeping God rest upon and 
abide with you all. Amen. The services closed with prayer by Rev. J. 
Burnett, pastor of the Baptist church, the hymn, "Guide Me, O Thou 
Great Jehovah" by the choir and the benediction by Mr. Sayre. 

Rev James Wyckoff succeeded Mr. Sayre as pastor. He came October 
1, 1883, and was installed on the twenty-third of the same month, After a 
pastorate of over twelve years he resigned, preaching his farewell sermon 
to the church on the morning of April 25, 1896, from the text in I Timo- 
thy, i, 15. In the evening of the same day he preached his final sermon to 
the society and community from the text in Acts viii, 35. In the morning- 
he alluded to the church status, saying in part : "I leave the church richer 
both in property and membership than I found it. During my pastorate 
the amount of property owned by the society has been increased. 
Since I became pastor a parsonage has been purchased and put in re- 
spectable condition. The chapel has been improved and newly furnished, 



196 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

the barn has been repaired, and the expense incurred by these im- 
provements has been fully met. To-day the church has a valuable prop- 
erty, which is altogether free from debt We have met our expenses and 
paid off our debts, and to-day are in what by church treasurers generally 
would be pronounced good financial condition. During twelve years we 
have reported as contributions for congregational purposes and objects of 
benevolence sums which have aggregated above $23,500, or an average of 
$1,875 a year. While your pastor I have administered the sacrament of 
baptism to 85 persons, 42 adults and 43 infants. One of these infant bap- 
tisms was recorded on the Methodist roll, and 42 on that of the church. 
I have solemnized 33 marriages. It is plain to you all that I have not se- 
cured a fortune by wedlock while in Pine Plains. One hundred and 
twenty-nine have been added to the membership roll during my pastorate, 
one hundred and three on probation and 26 by letter. Forty-three have 
died and fifty have been or soon will be dismissed. One member has been 
suspended. The total loss in membership during the twelve years and sev- 
en months is ninety-nine, a tremendous loss for a small church in an old 
settled locality. The total number of the membership April 1, 1896, is 151." 
Mr. Wyckoff had many warm friends, who at his leaving presented 
him with a gold watch as a small token of their high esteem and regard. 
He has taken the pastorate of a church at Leonia, New Jersey. The Kev, 
James MacGovvan was his successor, and is now (1897) pastor. 




CHAPTER XVI. 

METHODIST CHURCH. 

It is an interesting fact in oiu - . history that Bishop Elijah Heddingwas 
born near the southwest border of Pine Plains. His father, James Hed- 
ding, owned lands adjoining the south boundary of the present Frank Eno 
farm as early as 1768 or '69. It is thought to have been the "Ten Eyck 
farm," but whether or not he lived there is surmise. There is a tradition 
that his residence was on the west side of Stissing Mountain in the south- 
west border of the town. The traces of an early settlement there is said to 
have been the "Hedding farm" on which a fine spring called the "Hedding 
Spring" seems to give a touch of fact to this tradition. Wherever it was, it 
was within the bounds of North East Precinct, for in 1769 he was an over 
seer of the poor in this precinct, an office then which bespoke honor and 
ability. He held this office many years. In 1780, eleven years after 
this, Elijah Hedding was born, his father, James, being a resident of North 
East Precinct. In 1788 the Dutchess circuit was first recognized in the an- 
nual conference, and Freeborn Garretson was appointed elder. In 1789, 
Benjamin Abbott was stationed on Dutchess Circuit, and it is said he trav- 
ersed what is now Milan and Pine Plains, preaching with great effect. He 
was zealous, uncompromising, fearless and aggressive. Among his con- 
verts at this time were Elijah Hedding's mother, his grandmother, and oth- 
er relatives. He had class meetings, and established a class during his 
term of one year with which Mrs. Hedding united. This was the origin of 
Methodism in Pine Plains. Milan came under this influence at the same 
time, the central point being what has been known as the Rowe neighbor- 
hood. Amenia and the Oblong had preceded us, the first society in Ame- 
nia having been formed in 1788 and Sharon the same year, and all through 
the influence of Freeborn Garretson. 

In 1791, two years after this ministry of Benjamin Abbott, the Hed- 
ding family emigrated to Sharpsborough, Vermont, The class was under 
the supervison of Freeborn Garretson, and the first members coming down 
to us as fact succeeding the Hedding family previous to 1798, were Ira Wi- 
nans, Walter Mead, David Dabol and Philip Rowe. These were represent- 
ative members of their respective families. In 1802, '3 and '4, that unique 
and remarkable pioneer Methodist preacher, Billy Hibbard, first came upon 
this circuit, and he may be called one of the builders of the society in Pine 
Plains. 

Meetings were held in these early years in the dwellings and groves, 
in the old Round Top church, at Bethel and in the old church at Sackett's. 




M ETh 



urch, January, u 



THE CHURCHES. 199 

Corners, near Attlebury. Meetings were held at John Harris', founder of 
the "Harris Scythes, who lived at the saw mill house of the "Willow Vale" 
mills, now owned by Charles Turpin, where it is said seats were made from 
slabs to accommodate the hearers. David Dabol, a plow maker living at 
the outlet of Halcyon Lake — Buttermilk Pond — had meetings in his slm|> 
which stood at the right of the outlet, in going in from the main road. 
Meetings were held at the Ten Eyck farm house, a short distance south of 
C. C. Mores dwelling house, where it is thought James Hedding lived 
about 1768. Here about 1805 Miss Sarah Wilber, now deceased, one of the 
lady members of the church, was baptized by Rev. John Culver, a pioneer 
preacher then well known in northern Dutchess. He preached also in the 
old church at Sackett's Corners, where quarterly meetings were held. This 
old church seems to have been the principal place of Methodist meetings 
in these years. Peter Powers and "Tommy" Ingrabam from Amenia "ex- 
horted" here frequently. Rev. David Pitt Candle was another Methodist 
preacher in this locality at this time and earlier. He was a preacher here 
in 1798, and a few years later he baptized at this old church Doctor Benja- 
min S. Wilber, and his sister Matilda, early members of the Methodist 
church at Pine Plains. Methodist meetings were held at the dwelling of 
Philip Rowe, now Henry Palmer's, by Billy Hibbard in 1802, '3 and '4, and 
by other Methodist preachers. Billy Hibbard, John Culver and David Pitt 
Candle were contemporaneous at this time. 

Walter Mead came to Pine Plains in 1805 and built a shop for cabinet 
work. He was a pioneer Methodist, and in this shop, which stood on the 
present Mrs. Elizabeth Bostwick dwelling property, Methodist meetings 
were held. This building has been removed and now forms the rear 
of the late Henry Engleke cabinet shop on South Street. At this time 
(1805) the early class of the ten years previous had become solidified and 
strengthened. Among its members were Tammy Mead Smith, wife of 
Isaac Smith, Ann Landon, wife of Edward Thomas, father of Richard 
Thomas, one of the founders of the present church, Josiah Finch and Liz- 
zie Finch, Walter Mead and Elizabeth Winans his wife, Philip Rowe and 
his son Elijah, David Dabol and wife, John Harris the scythe maker and 
his wife Mary Gamble. Probably there were others, as members, or in 
sympathy with this denomination. The method of holding meetings as 
time and place offered continued until 1837. They had no part nor lot in 
the "Union Meeting House'' of 1815. So they took to the school houses 
and work shops in the winter and to the groves and woods in the summer, 
where they could have camp meetings, free air, a free gospel, free grace 
and a free shout. 

In 1835 Doctor Benjamin S. Wilber settled in the town of Pine Plains, 
on the present Mrs. Henry Myers farm at Halcyon Lake. The dwelling at 
the entrance at the bridge stands on the site of the old house into which he 
moved. He was an intelligent, zealous Methodist and a good family phy- 



200 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

sician. With him and wife and children, came also as part of his family* 
his father and mother and one sister, Matilda — an acquisition of five to the 
M. E. Society. At this time (1835) Pine Plains and Copake were in one cir- 
cuit, and the preachers were D. B. Ostrander and W. Lull. At Pine Plains 
it is said — there is no record — there were only eight members, who were 
Richard Thomas and wife Harriet Mead Thomas, his mother Ann Landon, 
widow of Edward Thomas, John Peter Keeler and wife, Tammy Mead, 
Electus B. Chamberlain, and Mrs. Maria Pugsley Harris, the wife of Col. 
Silas Harris. Thus tbe real work of the Methodist Episcopal Society and 
church building at Pine Plains commenced in 1835, with thirteen members 
including the five in the family of Doctor Benjamin S. Wilber. The soci- 
ety received new life and zeal under tbe fervent exhortations of Doctor 
Wilber, and two years later the following contract was entered into for a 
church building : 

CONTRACT FOR CHURCH BUILDING. 

"An article of agreement entered into on the 16th day of February, 
1837, by Richard Thomas, Electus B. Chamberlin and Benjamin S. Wilber 
of Pine Plains, Dutchess County and state of New York, of the first part, 
and Alauson Humphrey of Stanford, N. Y., of the second part. Said Alan- 
son Humphrey of the second part hereby agrees with Richard Thomas, 
Electus B. Chamberlin and Benjamin S. Wilber of the second part, to build 
a house of worship in or near Pine Plains, N. Y. , for the use of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. The dimensions and specifications as follows, viz: 
said house shall be forty-five feet in length by thirty-five feet in width, 
twenty feet posts in height, with five bents, and a gallery in front eleven 
feet wide, with eight windows of fifty lights each, glass 7 by 9 inches, two 
of the windows to be in the front end, with two flights of stairs to enter 
the gallery and a partition five or six feet from the front end to afford an 
entry way. a large front door double, the back of the seats to be ceiled up 
above the bench, and a book board on the top, and an altar, the floor of 
which shall be elevated about six inches with cherry railings and banisters 
with turned posts, the seats and ends to be inch and a quarter stuff, the 
backs to be inch stuff, with three pillars under the end gallery to be cased. 
The pulpit to be made in good style, with good materials, two flights of 
stairs to enter it, tbe wall to be three coats with hard finish to be put on in 
workmanlike manner. Two chimneys to be built up from foundation with 
brick and carried up a suitable height above the roof with a cap on the 
top of each. The breastwork of gallery to be of ordinary height to be done 
in a workmanlike manner, the gallery to be properly seated, the seats to be 
at a'proper distance from each other there, and also on the lower floor, and 
to be fastened to floor by mortise tenons, the house to be painted with white 
lead, two coats to be put on the outside and inside, the paint made of good 
materials, the floor to be inch and a quarter stuff, white pine good floor 
stuff, the same for gallery floor, the platform in front of the house to be 
six feet by twelve, on the top steps all around except next the house to be 
inch and a quarter stuff spruce, the siding to be good white pine half-inch 
stuff, and the shingles first rate. Projection at the eaves and suitable cor- 
nice, also up the rafters, also window fastening. Four panel doors the inside 



THE CHURCHES. 201 

properly trimmed, the two outside doors properly trimmed, a first rate 
lock. The whole to he made with good materials and in good style, and in 
a workmanlike manner. And he further agrees to have the mason work 
done by the first of October, 1837, and the house finished by the 1st of Nov- 
ember, 1837. 

In consideration of the above, Richard Thomas, Electus B. Chamberlin 
and Benjamin S. Wilber of the first part hereby agree to pay to said Alan- 
son Humphrey of the second part, for building said house as aforesaid the 
sum of fifteen hundred and forty dollars. Payments to be made as fol- 
lows, viz: five hundred dollars on or before the first of May, 1837, and 
three hundred dollars more when the house is enclosed, and the remaining 
seven hundred and forty dollars by the first of January, 1838 (without in- 
terest). 

Also, we of the first part agree to stain the book boards, banisters and 
railing. We the undersigned do agree to place our hands and seals. 

RICHARD THOMAS, L. S. 

ELECTUS B. CHAMBERLIN, L. S. 

BENJAMIN S. WILBER, L. S. 

ALANSON HUMPHREY, L. S. 

There is the following endorsement on this contract: 
"This contract is this 28th day of Nov. A. D. 1837, is hereby made null 
and void by the said who executed the above agreement. 

RICHARD THOMAS. 
ELECTUS B. CHAMBERLIN. 
ALANSON HUMPHREY. 

Signed and sealed in presence of J. D. Jordan." 

A man by the name of Merritt did the mason work. The site was pur- 
chased from Dr. Cornelius Allerton, and Richard Thomas broke the ground 
for the foundation. The house was dedicated in 1837 . The Rev. Fitch 
Reed preached the sermon. Rev. Benjamin Griffin was elder, and was 
present. Rev. Richard Wyman preached in the evening of the same day. 
Rev. E. S. Stout and Rev. A. G. Shears were the ministers assigned to Pine 
Plains and Copake for that year, Mr. Stout being the preacher at Pine 
Plains. In 1838 David Holmes and David Plumb were appointed to these 
places, Holmes preaching at Pine Plains. He was here also in 1839, and 
for ministers thereafter see appended list. 

In 1871 the church building was repaired and enlarged by an addition 
to the front on which a fine steeple was erected, and a small addition on 
the rear. The old original frame was not changed. An excellent pipe or- 
gan was placed in the choir gallery, and the result of the repairs then made 
is the present neat church and its furnishings. 

Dedicatory exercises commenced at eleven o'clock in the morning of 
November 16, 1871, by a voluntary on the organ, followed by an anthem, 
reading the ritual service by the pastor, singing hymn 966, prayer, Gloria 
Patri, reading Scriptures, singing hymn 970, sermon by Rev. Dr. Ridge- 
way of New York, dedicatory services by Rev. J. B. Wakely, D. D., who 
read responsively with the congregation Psalm 122. The exercises closed 
by singing the doxology and the benediction. Dr. Kidgeway preached a 



202 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

very able discourse on this occasion from Matthew, 26, 43. : "Verily I say 
unto you wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, 
there shall also this, that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of 
her. " Rev. F. 8. Barnum preached in the evening of the same day. 

In the summer and fall of 1892, Rev. A. E. Barnett then pastor, the 
church was again repaired by being thoroughly renovated and painted in- 
side. The walls and ceiling were neatly frescoed, and the choir gallery 
enlarged by extending its entire front, thus giving more seating room 
above. The improvements were completed by October 14, 1893, and on 
Sunday, October 15th, John Wesley Selleck, a beloved and popular pastor 
who had served the church in 1882, '4 and '5, preached an earnest and in- 
structive sermon. On the Monday evening following, by appointment of 
Rev. A. E. Barnett, there was "platform speaking" in the church, which 
was participated in by several ministers. The following synoptical report 
of this church from its first dedication written by Isaac Huntting appeared 
in the Pine Plains Register of that week : 

DEDICATORY SERVICES IN THE M. E. CHURCH. 

The completion of the present repairs on and in the Methodist church 
has furnished an opportunity for the third dedicatory service in that 
church. The first dedicatory sermon was preached by Rev. Fitch Reed, I 
think in December. I was present but do not remember his text, but well 
remember him as a preacher of ability, and a man of sober mindedness 
and dignity. He was a conservative Methodist preacher compared with 
the aggressive Benjamin Abbott and Jesse Lee of an earlier date. I well 
remember, too, the almost, — yes, quite unspeakable joy of the members of 
this society at the completion of this first church building. To say they 
had more than fulness of joy is no figure of speech. They had gone from 
pillar to post to find a place for worship, had used the woods, the barns, 
the mills, the shops, enduring contumely and reproach and scorn. They 
were poor and the poor found a home with the Methodists. The Methodist 
church of to-day is not the Methodist church of 1837 in its makeup. What 
wonder, then, that those early members, who had struggled to build a home, 
should mingle tears and laughter with emotional joy in having a church 
of their own ? Another thing which comes fresh to my mind was the 
theological disscussions on doctrinal points, dogmas the curse of the times 
which I sincerely believe wrecked many an anxious, earnest spirit. These 
dogmas are sleepiug now. Let them Lethe be. 

It seems fit that these new starts in the race should come about. Rev. 
Fitch Reed may have congratulated the few brethren on their entering the 
honse and home of their hearts, and encouraged them for the future. It 
would have been proper and appropriate if he did. A full generation 
passes wherein the elements and forces of nature are made subservient to 
man, broadening in their influence the world over. The second dedication 
took place Nov. 16, 1871. Dr. Ridgway embodies the religious thought of 



THE CHURCHES 20$ 

the times preaching from these words: " Verily I say unto you wheresoev- 
er this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this that 
this woman hath done be told as a memorial of her." The sermon was in- 
structive and eloquent, the main thought being charity and the doing of 
good deeds from a full heart. Such work has an everlasting memorial. 

Twenty-two years later conies the third dedication, October 15, 1893. 
More marvelous still during these years have been the inventions to anni- 
hilate space, and in the means for bringing together all nations or their 
representatives which has been accomplished. What now ? Rev. J. W. 
Selleck, the preacher of the occasion, has this text from John vii, 15: "How 
knoweth this man letters, having never learned." (See Matthew xiii, 54.) 
Again it is the uppermost question of the times that presses upon him. 
The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. The divine and hu- 
man combined in the "carpenter's Son. " This is the Christ. Mr. Selleck 
had the close attention of the congregation from start to finish, and the 
finish was complete. He said in substance among other things that this 
' 'carpenter's Son" had Knowledge of all the forces of the natural world as well 
as the secrets of the heart and soul, that science did not disprove, but on the 
contrary confirmed the wisdom of the sayings and acts of this untaught 
Man, said and performed two thousand years ago. "How knoweth this 
man letters having never learned ? " He used the parables freely in proof 
and illustration of the main point to wit: The union of the divine and 
human in this "carpenter's Son," and in his manner of doing so carried the 
congregation to his own elevated mental plane and broader view in thought 
and feeling, a power or gift that only few preachers are possessed of. 
Those who missed hearing him missed an eloquent and able discourse, 
and those who did hear him will not soon forget it. 

Looking backward at these dedicating sermons there seems to me a 
striking fitness to the times and current religious thought in which they 
occurred. They reflect the religious public opinion. Public opinion rules 
the church as well as state each in its sphere. One cannot be convinced 
against his will. This is the rock — to be called in future the very small 
nut — that is rending the church world at present. More charity is needed, 
and it will surely come. 

The following list of Methodist preachers was compiled from the min- 
utes of the general conference in New York city by the late Professor Wil- 
liam W. Wilber, of Pine Plains, who spent his life in teaching in the public 
schools in Poughkeepsie and New York city. To him I am indebted for 
this valuable list. There were other ministers, itinerants preaching as. 
they went, whose names do not appear. 

1788, Duchess Circuit first mentioned tins year, Cornelius Cook, An- 
drew Harpending, Presiding Elder, Freeborn Garretson. 

1789. Duchess Circuit, Samuel Q. Talbot, Benj. Abbott, Presiding El- 
der, Freeborn Garretson. 




Isaiah Dibble. 
[See Lineage.] 



THE CHURCHES 205. 

1790, Duchess, Peter Moriarty, Menzies Raynor, Presiding Elder, Free- 
born Garretson. 

1791, Duchess, Peter Moriarty, Halleck, Presiding Elder, Free- 
born Garretson. 

1792, Duchess, Thomas Everard, Zebulon Zankey, Presiding Elder, 
Freeborn Garretson. 

1793, Duchess, Samuel Fowler, Robert McCoy, Presiding Elder, Free- 
born Garrison. 

1794, Duchess, Jacob Rickhow, David Brown, Presiding Elder, Free- 
born Garretson. 

1795, Duchess, Peter Moriarty, David Brown. Presiding Elder, Free- 
born Garretson. 

1796, Duchess, Peter Moriarty, Samuel Fowler, Presiding Elder, Syl- 
vester Hutchinson. 

1797, Duchess, Philip Wager, Joseph Mitchell, Presiding Elder, Syl- 
vester Hutchinson. 

1798, Duchess, Jacob Rickhow, Billy Hibbard, Presiding Elder, Syl- 
vester Hutchinson. 

1799, Duchess, Joseph Totten, Roger Searle, Presiding Elder, Sylves- 
ter Hutchinson. 

1800, Duchess, William Thacher, Peter Jane, Presiding Elder, Free- 
born Garretson. 

1801, Duchess and Columbia, David Brown, William Thacher, Lo- 
renzo Dow, Presiding Elder, Freeborn Garretson. 

1802, Duchess and Columbia, David Brown, Sylvester Foster, Billy 
Hibbard, Presiding Elder, Freeborn Garretson. 

1803, Duchess, James Coleman, Lowry, Billy Hibbard, Presiding Elder, 
Freeborn Garretson. 

1804, Duchess, Datus Ensign, Billy Hibbard, Presiding Elder, Free- 
born Garretson. 

1805, Duchess, Francis Ward, Robert Dillon, Presiding Elder, William 
Thacher. 

1806, Duchess, Daniel Ostrander, S. Ward, Robert Dillon, Presiding El- 
der. P. Moriarty. 

This year Rhinebeck is given as a District, with 4 stations or circuits, 
Duchess, Lebanon, S. Britain, Pittsfield. 

1807, Duchess, Daniel Ostrander, Wm. Vredenburgh, Wm. Swayze, 
Presiding Elder, P. Moriarty. 

1808, Duchess, Peter Moriarty, Z. Covel, Tabor Blaney, Presiding El- 
der, Aaron Hunt. 

This year Freeborn Garretson is put down as preacher at Rhinebeck. 
3,808 white, 58 colored members in the district. 1,077 white, 40 colored 
members in Duchess Circuit. 



THE CHURCHES. 207 

1809, Duchess, Zenas Covel, J. Crawford. S. Arnold, Presiding Elder, 
Aaron Hunt. 

1810, Duchess, E. Woolsey, Z. Lyon, Smith Arnold, Presiding Elder, 
Aaron Hunt. 

1811, Rhineheck Circuit, B. Hihbard. A. Dunbar, Isaac Candee, Wm. 
Anson, Presiding Elder, Aaron Hunt. 

1812, Duchess, Wm, Anson, W. Swayze, M. Richardson, Presiding 
Elder, Aaron Hunt. 

1812, Rhinebeck, B. Hihbard, Coles Carpenter, E. Woolsey, Presiding 
Elder, Aaron Hunt. 

1813, Rhinebeck, James W. Smith, Friend Draper, Presiding Elder, 
Aaron Hunt. 

1814, Rhinebeck, Wm. Anson, John Crawford, Presiding Elder, Free- 
born Garretson. 

1815, Rhinebeck, Wm. Anson, Thomas Thorp, Presiding Elder, Na- 
than Bangs. 

1816, Rhinebeck, Datus Ensign, John B. Matthias, Presiding Elder, 
Nathan Bangs. 

1817, Rhinebeck, Datus Ensign, N. W. Thomas, A, Pierce, Presiding 
Elder, Eben Washburn. 

1818, Rhinebeck, N. W. Thomas, Henry Eames, Luman Andrus, Supt. 

1819, Rhinebeck, Samuel Howe, Samuel Luckey, Luman Andrus, Supt. 

1820, Rhinebeck, Samuel Howe, Jesse Hunt. 

1821, Rhinebeck, Jesse Hunt. 

This year Duchess is put into the New Haven District. Daniel Bray- 
ton is appointed to Amenia — Salisbury, Coles Carpenter, Lucius Baldwin. 
[No ministers were stationed at Pine Plains until 1835.] 

1822, James Young, D. Brayton at Amenia, Presiding Elder, Henry 
Stead. 

1823, Rhinebeck, James Young, Presiding Elder, Henry Stead. 
Cyrus Silliman at Amenia. 

1824, Duchess, Samuel Draper, Samuel Cochrane, Presiding Elder, 
Henry Stead. 

Rhinebeck, Salisbury, David Miller, John Lovejoy, George Coles. 
Amenia, John Reynolds. 

1825, Duchess, Samuel Cochrane, Nicholas White, Wm. M. Willett, 
Presiding Elder, Henry Stead. 

1826, Rhinebeck, Timothy Benedict, Amenia, John Reynolds, Presid- 
ing Elder, Henry Stead. 

1827, Rhinebeck, Timothy Benedict, Amenia, Wm. Jewet, J. C. Bon- 
tecou, A. Hunt, Elder. 

1828, Rhinebeck, Fitch Reed. Amenia, Wm. Jewet, A. S. Hill, A. 
Hunt, Supt., Presiding Elder, P. P. Sanford. 




o 



THE CHURCHES. 209> 

1829, Rhinebeck, Stephen Remington, Amenia, Fitch Reed, A. S. Hill, 
A. Hunt, Supt.. Duchess and Milan, A. M. Osborn, M. Richardson. 

1830, Rhinebeck, Stephen Remington, Amenia, F. Reed, L. Clark, A. 
Hunt, Supt., Milan. A. S. Hill, Presiding Elder, P. P. Sanford. 

1831, Rhinebeck, Amenia, Samuel Cochran, Lorin Clark, Milan, A. S^ 
Hill, Mallinson, Supt. A. Hunt. 

1832, Rhinebeck, Amenia, S. Cochran, F. Donnelly, Milan, L Clark, 
Supt. A. Hunt. 

1833, Rhinebeck, Amenia, S. W. Fisher, S. Washburn, Milan, Lorin 
Clark, F. Donnelly, Supt. A. Hunt. 

1834, Rhinebeck, Amenia, R. Wymond, S. Washburn, G. D. Sutten, 
Milan, W. M. Fangs, F. Donnelly, Supt. Hunt. 

1835, Rhinebeck. Amenia, R. Wymond, E. Washburn, G. D. Sutten, 
Milan, D. Keeler, S. W. Smith, Copake and Pine Plains, D. B. Ostrander, 
W. Lull, Presiding Elder, Benjamin Griffin. 

1836, Rhinebeck, Amenia, Fitch Reed, D. Holmes, J. P. Ellsworth, 
Milan. S. Cochran, Copake and Pine Plains, A. Bushnell, A. G. Shears, 
Presiding Elder, B. Griffin. 

1837, Rhinebeck, Copake and Pine Plains, E. S. Stout, A, G. Shears, 
Presiding Elder, B. Griffin. 

1838, Rhinebeck, Copake and Pine Plains, David Holmes, David Plumb, 
Presiding Elder, B. Griffin. 

1839, Rhinebeck, Pine Plains, David Holmes. 

The ministers of Pine Plains only will hereafter be named. 

1840, M. Van Duzen, Presiding Elder, W. Jewett. 

1841, M. Van Duzen, Presiding Elder, W. Jewett. 

1842, Aaron Hunt, Presiding Elder, W. Jewett. 

1843, Wm. Gothard, Presiding Elder, W. Jewett. 

1844, Charles Chittenden, Presiding Elder, Jesse Hunt. 

1845, Charles Chittenden, Presiding Elder, Jesse Hunt. 

1846, Stephen M. Vail, Presiding Elder, Jesse Hunt. 

1847, Albert Nash, Presiding Elder, Jesse Hunt. 

1848, Thomas Ellis. Presiding Elder, Phineas Rice. 

1849, Thomas Ellis, Presiding Elder, Phineas Rice. 

1850, M. R. Lent, Presiding Elder, Phineas Rice. 

1851, M. R. Lent, Presiding Elder, Phineas Rice. 
1852-53, A. H. Ferguson. 

1854-55, W. G. Browning. 
1856-57. J. N. Shaffer. 
1858-59, L. W. Walsworth. 
1860-61, Z. N. Lewis. 
1862-63, Wm. Bloomer. 
1864-66, F. S. Barnum. 
1867-68, H. B. Mead. 



210 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

1869-71, G. D. Townsend. 

1872-73, B. H. Burch. 

1874-76, W. E. Ketcham. 

1877-79, W. F. Brush. 

1880-81, B. N. Lewis. 

1882, B. N. Lewis. 

1888-84, John Wesley Selleck. 

1885, John Wesley Selleck. 

1886, C. H. Reynolds. 

1887, W. A. Mackey. 

1888, W. A. Mackey. 

1889, W. A. Mackey. 

1890, F. R. Bouton. 

1891, F. R. Bouton. 

1892, A. E. Barnett. 

1893, A. E. Barnett 

1894, A. E. Barnett. 

1895, Albert Stevens. 

1896, James Douglass. 






CHAPTER XVII. 
BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The meeting for the incorporation of the Baptist Society of Pine Plain 
"was held at the house of Alfred Brush, May 4th, 1836, who at that time lived 
in the "Graham block house" in the rear of Walter T. Myers' furniture 
store property, and now owned by Isaiah Dibble. The house was repaired 
•a few years since and the old square logs covered with siding. Alfred 
Brush and Aaron E. Winchell presided at this meeting and Cornelius Hus- 
ted, Charles Couch, Justus Boothe, Niles Hartwell, Alfred Brush and 
Aaron E. Winchell were elected trustees. These proceedings were certi- 
fied to by Stephen Thorne. one of the county Judges, on April eleventh 
following, and recorded June 28, 1836, in book No. 1 of church records in 
the county clerk's office at Poughkeepsie on pages 122, 123. 

This organization was the outcome of a few settlers of that church be- 
lief who came to "the pine plains" in the earlier years of this century from 
1810 to 1815, of whom may be noted Justus Boothe, Aaron E. Winchell, 
Niles Hartwell and Alfred Brush. Mr. Winchell and Mr. Hartwell had 
been residents of Spencer's Corners — now North East — where as early as 
1766 a Baptist church had been organized with which the Winchell and Hart- 
well families were identified. Alfred Brush had received his early educa- 
tion in this denomination at Danbury, Conn, When the "Union Meeting 
House" — now Presbyterian — was built in 1815, they and others of Baptist 
tendencies contributed to its erection expecting to have their quarter share 
of time in the use of the union house. After its completion the Rev, John 
Buttolph, a Baptist minister of North East (Spencer's Corners), was the first 
regular preacher of this denomination. He preached about two years be- 
tween 1819 and 1822, and about this time the Baptist interest in the union 
house was transferred by the trustees to the Dutch Reformed. This act of 
the trustees was probably the cause of the withdrawal of Rev. John But- 
tolph. The Rev. Robert G. Armstrong was at this time the ordained min- 
ister of the Presbyterians and occupied the pulpit his share — one quarter — 
of the time. The doctrinal points of baptism by immersion and by sprink- 
ling by these two respective ministers from the same pulpit, which each 
pressed to the front in accordance with the denominational strife of that 
era, to say the least was detrimental to church harmony and union. The 
" Union house" became a house of disunion. The Baptists, however, were 
permitted to hold meetings, and the Rev. Luman Burtch, who was pastor 
of the present Baptist church at Bangall when this union house was built, 
and twenty years or more continuously thereafter, succeeded Mr. But- 



212 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

tolph. He was a plain, practical and popular preacher, always speaking 
extemporaneously, never using head notes. He was a remarkable man in 
logical demonstration, and in his ministry was politic, ever careful to not 
give offense. He preached here with a good degree of regularity, once in 
four weeks, until about 1835, when a series of revival meetings were held, 
which resulted (referring specially to the Baptist church) in the -first bap- 
tisms of the Baptist church, June 7, 1835, in the Shacameco stream at 
Hammertown a short distance below the bridge. The following persons 
were then and there baptized : Cornelius Husted, Alfred Brush, Milton 
Smith, Frederick Couch and wife, Henry Gillum, Caroline Thompson and 
Salvina Boothe. Elder Burtch baptized them. It was an impressive scene 
made more impressive by time, place and surroundings. The large wil- 
lows there then were in fresh leaf, and their extreme pendant branches 
were swaying gracefully in the soft moving atmosphere of that beautiful 
afternoon. It was 2 o'clock. The banks of the stream on either side were 
lined with spectators, boys in the brandies of the willows above, all intent 
with breathless stillness to see these devout ones go each down into the 
water, led by that venerable elder, there buried in baptism, then come up 
out of the water, and he meanwhile with that inimitable penetrating voice 
of his, speaking appropriate scripture lessons of belief, faith, hope, death 
and resurrection. It brought to mind the primitive mode of baptism in 
the river Jordan. This was the baptismal place for many years. No man, 
as I now remember, was more impressive than Elder Burtch in this Bap- 
tist baptismal lesson, "and they went down both into the water both 
Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him." His voice was full and 
strong, without tremulous sentiment, and had great traveling power with- 
out harshness. It was adapted to out-door speaking and he had many oc- 
occasions of this sort in this ministry. The preparatory service of this first 
baptism was held at the Bangall church, July 18, 1835. Preparatory service 
for the second baptism was held at the dwelling house of Cornelius Hus- 
ted, at Hammertown. This was the first Baptist church meeting in the 
town of Pine Plains. Elder Burtch was present, and in accordance with 
this preparatory meeting in August following these were baptized : Peter 
W. Husted, Julia Husted, Julia Anna Woolsey, Aaron E. Winchell, Lydia 
E. Winchell, Charlotte Conklin and Leonard Booth. These two baptismal 
ceremonies made a membership of fifteen for this society, which as yet, 
according to the Baptist church polity, belonged to the Bangall church. 
Hence this society was then called a branch of that church. 

The next year, 1836, an effort was made to build a church building- 
The present church lot was purchased for six hundred dollars, and a con- 
tract made with Elijah B. Northrop, of Pine Plains, to build the church 
and have it finished by July 1, 1837. The building was to be thirty-four 
feet by fifty — as it stands now it is thirty-six by forty-eight— with a base- 
ment and belfry. By June 1st, 1837, it was nearly enclosed, the roof and 



THE CHURCHES. 213 

belfry nearly finished, and the flooring down. Saturday, June 3d, 1837, 
about 6 p. rn. , a tornado, now called a cyclone, passed through the village. 
This church building was in its path of destruction and it fell to the ground. 

Rev. Luman Burtch, pastor of the Baptist church at Bangall, who had 
been preaching here, now lent a ready and willing hand in rebuilding the 
church. The Baptist churches of the county were appealed to for aid. 
Elder Thomas Winter and Aaron E. Winchell were appointed to solicit sub- 
scriptions from North East church, Elder L. W. Webster and John Guernsey 
from Amenia, Elder Alexander Smith and James Ketcham from Dover., 
Elder Luman Burtch and Asa Thompson from Stanford, Elder Isaac Bevan 
and A. Osborn from Fishkill, Elder Philip Roberts and G. F. Hurd from 
Pleasant Valley. Elder Burtch was chiefly instrumental for these appeals 
to sister churches and by persistent effort the church was completed, and 
dedicated by Elder John Leeland, May 7, 1838, taking his text from Mat- 
thew, 16th chap, and eighteenth verse : "And I say also unto thee that thou 
art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church ; and the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against it." 

In February, 1839, Elder Nathan D. Benedict, from Woodstock, Ct., 
preached his first sermon by invitation and in the same month the society 
extended a formal call which he accepted. The salary was three hundred 
and fifty dollars a year and a house free of rent. He was the first settled 
pastor of this church. A meeting was called May 20th of this year for the 
society to become a distinct Baptist church and a meeting on the 30th inst. 
was decided upon, when by invitation the Stanford, North East, Amenia 
And Dover churches should be represented in ecclesiastical council. The 
meeting was held pursuant to appointment and lettei's read from the 
churches at Woodstock, Conn. , from which Elder Benedict and family 
•came, and letters from the Stanford and North East Baptist churches, each 
of these churches recommending a separate and distinct organization for 
the Pine Plains church. The Baptist society or church of Pine Plains was 
then organized with the following members : Elder Nathan D. Benedict 
and wife, their daughter Mary Ann Benedict, from the Baptist church of 
Woodstock, Conn. From Stanford or Bangall Baptist church were Corne- 
lius Husted Peter W. Husted, Julia Husted, Julia Ann Woolsey, Aaron 
E. Winchell, Lydia L. Winchell, Caroline Thompson, Mary Thompson, 
Smith B. Couch, Amy G. Couch, Charles Couch, Frederick Couch, Marga- 
ret Couch, Alfred Brush, Sophia Brush. William H. Conklin, Elizabeth 
Conklin, Leonard Boothe, Salvina Best and Phebe T. Husted. From the 
Baptist church at North East were Niles Hartwell, Mary Hartwell and 
Mary McLane, twenty-six in all. At this meeting ten articles of faith w r ere 
adopted and incorporated in the deed for the church lot. These articles 
were certified to by Aaron E. Winchell before Epaphroditus Taylor, a 
commissioner of deeds, and the whole proceedings with the deed recorded 
in Liber number 68 of deeds on pages 147, 148, in the County Clerk's office, 



THE CHURCHES 215 

Poughkeepsie. Thus the Baptist church had now a habitation and 
an organization ecclesiastical and civil. The next step was for the church 
to be a member of the Baptist Council or Association, and for this purpose 
a meeting was appointed for May 30, 1839, at 10 a. m., when delegates of 
the following respective churches were present : Pine Plains, Elder N. D. 
Benedict and A. E. Winchell ; Stanford, Elder Burtch, Deacon Asa A. 
Thompson, Leonard Carman and Benjamin Palmer ; North East, Elder 
Winter, Deacon David Sheldon, Martin E. Winchell and A. Aldrich ; Ame- 
nia, Elder L. W. Webster, Deacon Seth Thompson, John K. Mead and N. 
Rose ; 2d Dover, Seneca Mabbett was the only delegate from Dover, Elder 
Smith, the pastor there, being absent on a western journey. (Note. I 
think Mr. N. Rose, of Amenia, is the only one now (1897) living of the 
above named persons.) At this meeting it was "resolved unanimously 
that the council approve of the articles of faith and practice together with 
the covenant adopted by said brethren at Pine Plains." In the afternoon 
of that day Elder Luman Burtch preached and Elder Thomas Winter gave 
the right hand of fellowship to the newly admitted church to the sister- 
hood of churches. 

Elder Benedict was pastor until January, 1813, when he resigned, to 
take effect April first of that year. He was succeeded by Joseph B. Breed, 
of Rahway, N. J. . who was introduced to the society by Dr. Rufus Bab- 
cock, of the Baptist church of Po'keepsie, by a letter of May 5, 1843, which 
reads : 

' 'Dear Brethren : I have the pleasure of introducing to you Bro. Reed 
and his excellent wife. As he takes his all with him in his visit to you, I 
trust he will not be in such great haste to depart as your last visitor, Bro. 
Driver, was." 

Elder Breed's "'his all" mentioned in the above extract refers to his 
little daughter. He came May 6, 1843, on his visit, and the 13th following 
an unanimous call was extended to him at a salary of $400. He moved 
his furniture from Rahway to Rhinebeck at his own expense, and from 
thence the society moved him to Pine Plains. He entered upon his labors 
the last Sabbath in May, 1843. He was social, a good entertainer, an up to 
date man, and a popular preacher. He had been here about a year and a 
half when affliction and loss by death came unto it. December 20, 1844, 
Niles Hartwell deceased. January 4, 1845, Walter Reynolds passed away. 
Mr. Reynolds was not a member, but his interest and contributions were 
liberal. A little more than three years later, August 10, 1848, this church 
lost a strong friend by the death of Aaron E. Winchell. He had been its 
clerk, continuously to August 14, 1847, when he resigned this office. At 
this resignation the church say 'we return him our sincere thanks for his 
kind services thus rendered and pray that the great Head of the Church 
may reward him for his labor of love. " Mr. Breed was deeply affected 
when preaching his funeral sermon. Mr. Winchell deceased at Lebanon. 

Elder Breed presented his resignation at a church meeting held April 




Cornelius Husted. 

[See Lineage.] 



THE CHURCHES 217 

14, 1849, which was accepted. He was going to Alleghany City. He was 
succeeded hy Elder Russell, from West Stockbridge, Mass. , who preached 
two months, commencing the 24th of June. In August of this year the 
society purchased the dwelling of F. W. Davis for a parsonage. Elder 
Breed returned in March, 1850, and was pastor until October, 1851, when 
his resignation was accepted. The church had no regular supply for about 
two years, and meanwhile Elder Smith preached occasionally until April, 
1852. He was succeeded by H. L. Morgan, a student of the Hamilton 
Theological Seminary, who supplied the pulpit during his vacation of 
three months commencing August 28, 1852. The next pastor was Rev. 
Samuel B. Willis, of Maryland, Otsego Co., N. Y., who preached his first 
sermon- May 1, 1853. He left in April, 1855. Elder Lucas, of Bangall, and 
Elder Weed, of Hyde Park, each preached irregularly for a year and a half, 
the church meanwhile being without a pastor. Elder John Reynolds, 
from Clifton Park Baptist church, followed and became the settled pastor. 
He arrived the first week in December, 185(3, and preached his first ser- 
mon December seventh. He was its pastor seventeen years excepting an 
omission of one year. In mind and character he may be put on the bor- 
ders of unique, yet withal sound to the core mentally and in heart. His 
method and habit of thought were his own. His conclusions came to him 
more instinctively perhaps than by logical processes. He had an easy, 
fluent style of writing so plain and natural that a child could understand 
and be interested in it. Some of his letters to the Association are rare and 
choice specimens of church literature, certainly the finest I have ever 
seen. He loved Pine Plains and its surroundings, and lived until his de- 
cease with harness on, May 14, 1873, in his seventy-ninth year. He was 
buried in Evergreen Cemetery. During his pastorate the last of the origi- 
nal members of the society passed away. 

On November 17, 1858, Elder Luman Burtch, pastor of the Baptist 
.church at Bangall, deceased, and at a regular covenant meeting of Pine 
Plains Baptist church Dec. 11, 1858, the minutes say: 

"Whereas, this church affectionately regards him as its founder, and 
many of its members cherish his memory as their father in Christ; Re- 
solved, that the sympathies of this church be tendered to his aged and be 
loved widow, and also to the church in Stanford, of which he was the effi 
cientand honored pastor during the greater portion of his life, and a ser- 
mon commemorative of bis unusually protracted and eminently successful 
ministry be preached in this place on the morning of the first Sabbath in 
January, 1859." 

Probably Elder Reynolds was the author of this resolution. Elder 
Burtch at his decease was in his eighty-second year and was buried in the 
cemetery near the old Baptist church at Bangall. This epitaph is on the 
headstone : 

" Fallen is the man who long has stood 
A pillar in the house of God. 
Fallen did I say — he's raised on high 
And stands a pillar in the sky." 



218 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Cornelius Husted deceased in 1859, and in regard to this Elder Rey- 
nolds in his annual letter to the Association for that year writes this beau- 
tiful tribute : 

"Cornelius Husted is dead. One of the foremost in forming this 
church, devoted with earnestness and liberality to our best interests du- 
ring all our varied history, and laying up in store for us of his earthlv 
bounty a generous legacv to brighten our prospects when his own should 
be the sunshine of salvation completed in heaven, he fell asleep in Jesus 
calmly as the sun sinks to rest, after a long and beautiful day, on the 16th 
of March in the 70th years of his age." 

The words "a generous legacy " in the above tribute are explained by 
this resolution : 

"Resolved, That the thanks of the church are due the family of our 
deceased brother, Cornelius Husted, for generously paying the mortgage, 
near two hundred dollars on the parsonage, and thus freeing the church 
property from debt. A noble deed of Christian benevolence ! May it be 
like ' bread cast upon the waters. ' " 

In December, 1870. Phebe W. Husted, widow of Cornelius Husted,. 
deceased, and in the church record is this, written by Elder Reynolds : 

4 December 7th, 1870. This day the remains of sister Phebe Husted 
were laid away in the grave to await the resurrection of the just. She 
united with the church at its formation, and her life was a beautiful illus- 
tration of the highest style of Christian excellence. Meek, humble, de- 
vout, earnest, wedded to Christ, and devoted heart, hand and soul to the 
good of the church. She saw her end drawing near with perfect calmness 
and died as the sun goes down in a serene sky from a world it had shined 
to bless. While living she contributed liberally to the support of the 
church, and left the stream of her generous benefactions to now on undi- 
minished long after her happy union with the church triumphant in heav- 
en." 

"She was a good mother." 

"The memory of the just is blessed." 

On March 6th, 1872, Deacon Alfred Brush deceased, and Elder Rey- 
nolds wrote this memoriam : 

"Bro. Brush had been a very active deacon of the church from its or- 
ganization. His piety like his mind was of a vigorous and unyielding 
stamp. He always did his own thinking, laid his own plans, and caried 
out as far as he could his conscientious and established convictions of 
duty. He loved the church next to his Saviour and gladly would he have 
made it a perfect church ' without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. ' 
For twenty years he had been an invalid, for five of the last nearly help- 
less. He saw without fear — with gladness even — his end approaching and 
met it in the vigor of faith and hope, aged eighty-six." 

Thus the last officers of the church at its organization were laid away 
in the tomb under the ministration of Elder Reynolds. 

In February, 1872, at a church meeting it was "unanimously voted 
that Elder Reynolds be requested to stay with them as their pastor as 
long as he could perform the work of the pastorate, but after that when 



THE CHURCHES. 21!> 

he could not perforin that work." A noble and worthy act to a noble and 
worthy pastor, and Elder Reynolds writes, "I acknowledged that kindness 
thankfully," but the deep feeling behind this formal expression was known 
only to him. His decease came May 14 the next year, he having preached 
his last sermon May 4, only ten days before. His widow deceased in De- 
cember, 1876, at , Philadelphia, and her remains brought to Pine Plains 
and placed by the side of her husband in Evergreen Cemetery. Elder 
Stearns preached a funeral sermon on the. occasion in the church. Elder 
Reynolds was an ardent supporter of the government in the war of the re- 
bellion. "The civil war raging in our once happy country, " he writes, ' 'the 
muscle and patriotism and all the resources of the nation with the united 
prayers of all Christians are demanded by the crisis, and can any one who 
feels that he has a country and that this is his native land, and has discrim- 
ination to perceive the opposite characters of loyalty and treason deserve 
such a name as this if he will not pray and strive to defend it." Surely 
this is patriotism of a high order. 

It was during his pastorate in 1870 that the church was substantially 
repaired at an expense of about $3,500, leaving it substantially as seen in 
the cut. In 1878 an application was made to the court for an order to sell 
the parsonage of the incorporated church property. The sale was made in 
1874, and proceeds applied to the church indebtedness. 

The next pastor was Elder S. L. Holman, who accepted the pastorate 
in March, 1874, in connection with his pastorate of the Baptist church at 
Millerton, where he was then living. He was pastor until May, 1875, having 
accepted a pastorate in Worcester, Mass. He preached his last sermon in 
Pine Plains in the afternoon of May twenty- third. Elder W. R. Conley 
then preached occasionally until the spring of 1876. when Rev. Everett D. 
Stearns, of Pawling, became pastor. He preached his first sermon as pas 
tor April 2, 1876. In this year the present parsonage was built, and in the 
following winter Mr. Stearns moved into it as its first occupant. He was 
pastor until 1877, and preached his last sermon September thirtieth of 
that year. Rev. John B. Nairn, from Madison University, succeeded to 
the pulpit and preached from June to September, 1878. He was only a 
supply. Rev. E. D. Craft succeeded as pastor, preaching his first sermon 
as pastor October 6, 1878, and his last one September 28, 1879. The next 
pastor was Rev. J. Burnett, who preached his first sermon March 1, 1880. 
He remained over four years 'and "preached his last sermon July 27, 1884, 
and returned to the Baptist church at Tariff ville, Conn. , of which he had 
formerly been pastor. Elder Roberts then supplied the pulpit for three 
months in the winter of 1884 and '5. Rev. J. E. Dodsley preached twice 
in May, 1885. who was followed by Rev. J. L. Benedict, who left in Octo- 
ber following. The next pastor was Rev. C. E. Witts, who commenced his 
pastorate Mar. 14. 1886. He remained about two years, his resignation be- 
ing accepted in June, 1888. On the first of September, Rev. Horace S_ 




Walter W. Husted. 
[See Lineage.] 



THE CHURCH KS-, 



22\s 



Quillin commenced his pastoral relation, and service although not then hav- 
ing been ordained. For this purpose a council of sister churches was. 
called Nov. 14, 1888, at Pine Plains, when he was ordained and became in 
fact its pastor. The ceremonies took place in the evening in which the 
respective pastors of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches participat- 
ed. Rev. Samnel Alman, of New York, was moderator. April 24, 1892, 
Rev. H. S. Quillin presented his resignation, which was reluctantly ac- 
cepted. His last service was in May. Rev. Jas. Milner Morris, of Emanuel 
church, was next occupant of the pulpit commencing May 14, 1892. He- 
had not then been ordained, and for this purpose a council of sister church- 
es was called to meet at Tine Plains Oct. 18, 1892, when he was ordained 
by the council and became pastor of the church. Mr. Morris and Mr, 
Quillin were each licentiates from Emanuel church, New York, and recom- 
mended to the Pine Plains church by Rev. Samuel Alman, pastor of Eman 
uel church, who was moderator at each of the ordination services. Mr. 
Morris remained about a year. The year following, the church was again 
without a pastor. Rev. C. N. Nichols, from near New London, Conn., 
came about April 1st, 1894, and was its pastor until April 1st, 1896, when, 
he resigned the pastorate. There has been occasional service since he? 
left, but no pastor since Mr. Nichols up to September, 1896. 





o 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The germ of the Episcopal society or church in Pine Plains came with 
the Ebenezer Dibblee family in 1784. His father, Ebenezer Dibblee, was 
an Episcopal clergyman (see lineage) and was the founder of the old first 
Episcopal church in Sharon, Conn. His son Ebenezer settled in business 
in Sharon, left there in 1781 or '2, moved to Salisbury, Conn., and from 
thence to Pine Plains in 1784. He settled on the George Clarke property, 
and lived in the old log house known in recent years as the Boothe 
house, a short distance west of the present hotel corners. Here nine of 
the children were born, three having been born before he came to Pine 
Plains — North East Precinct as it was then — making twelve children 
in all, and this family became the nucleus of the Episcopal society of Pine 
Plains. 

From 1784 to 1816 is an interim of very little if any Episcopal service 
in Pine Plains. The Dibblee family was identified with the parish in Shar- 
on, and for their church service they went thither. In the building of the 
Union Meeting House in 1815 the Dibblee family, Bostvvick families and 
William Woodin were specially interested as Episcopalians and were liber- 
al contributors to its erection. The house was ready for occupancy in 1816 
and in it in 1817 the Rev. Henry Anthon, D. D., of Red Hook, held the first 
regular services for a year or more in this town. After him the service 
was irregular for many years and meanwhile Rev. Mr.* Reed, from Salis- 
bury, held service in this house from time to time and clergymen from 
Sharon and other places came occasionally. In April, 1822, Mr. Charles 
B. Bostwick, then one of the firm of Bostwick Brothers, merchants in Pine 
Plains, married Miss Cornelia Corie, of New York city, and upon her set- 
tlement at Pine Plains that year she organized a Sabbath school which was 
the first Sabbath school in Pine Plains. She was an Episcopalian, but the 
scholars were from all denominations. These events were the beginnings 
of the Episcopal Society in Pine Plains, and down to 1822. At this period 
the Dibblee family had been broken by marriage and removal, and its influ- 
ence as a unity had gone. Two years later, in 1826, Ebenezer Dibblee de- 
ceased, and his widow moved to Catskill and lived with a daughter. Thus 
there was not a member of that large family living in Pine Plains after the 
death of Ebenezer Dibblee. About this time Charles B. Bostwick and fam 
ily moved to New York. The departure of these two families was a great 
loss in membership and financially to this society. About ten years later, 



224 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

(1833) Rev. "William N. Sayre became a settled Presbyterian pastor here,, 
preaching in the "Union Meeting House." and for lack of Episcopal ser- 
vices the parishioners finally merged with the Presbyterians, and there was. 
very little Episcopal service in this town for thirty years thereafter. 

About 1850 Theron Wilber became a permanent resident of this town. 
He had been a resident of New York from boyhood, had been successful in 
business there, and was an ardent Episcopalian. On his settlement in the 
town he revived the dormant church, adding fresh coals and new fuel. 
He assisted and co-operated with Rev. Sheldon Davis, a missionary in the 
county, and by Rev. D. G. Wright, of Poughkeepsie, in the work of hold- 
ing meetings in this vicinity. This was in the early 50's. Mr. Davis was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. Homer Wheaton, of St. Peter's church, Lithgow, who held a 
few services in the Presbyterian church at Pine Plains, until conflicting ap- 
pointments caused him to remove to the Union Bethel church, about two 
miles and a half south of the village, where he held regular services until his 
resignation from St. Peter's church at Lithgow and his retirement from 
the Episcopal ministry. Four or five years passed without any regular- 
service. In the summer of 1857 the Rev. Frederick Sill, assistant minister 
of Christ Church, Red Hook, commenced holding services in the Union 
Bethel church, at first monthly, then semi monthly, and often on week- 
day evenings. A deep interest pervaded these meetings, and the member- 
ship was materially increased. On the evening of July 9, 1858 — Mr. Sill then 
being in charge of the congregation — the Right Rev. Horatio Potter visited 
this place (Bethel) when three persons received the rite of confirmation, 
the first act of confirmation in this town. Opposition, active, malicious 
and bitter, now came to this flourishing society. Jealousy was the only 
cause. The church door was closed and the Bethel church difficulty be- 
came the scandal of the time. It was a " Union " church building and the 
disunionists were in the majority, and succeeded in their disunion. Mr. 
Sill, however, continued with this society until 1859, when he left his va- 
rious charges in this county, going to St. Thomas church, New York. He- 
was succeeded by Rev. Samuel K. Miller, of St. Peter's church, Lithgow r 
in this county, who at the Bethel church organized a Parish on the four- 
teenth day of November, 1859, according to statute, and was recorded in 
the county clerk's office on December seventh following In Liber 1 of church 
deeds page 223. The persons present at this meeting authorized by statute 
to vote for wardens and vestrymen were Samuel Deuel, Horace F. Smythe, 
Theron Wilber, Lawrence Barrett, Richard Peck, James H. Pitcher, Josiah 
Johnson, Silas I. Deuel. Theron Wilber and Horace F. Smythe were elect 
ed wardens The vestrymen were Samuel Deuel, Edw. Hunting, Silas I 
Deuel, Phenix Bockee, Horace Vibbert, Richard Peck, Lawrence Barrett, 
James H. Pitcher. The legal title of the church was voted to be "The 
Rector, Church Wardens and Vestrymen of the Church of the Regenera- 
tion." 



THE CHURCHES. 225 

In May, I860, subscriptions were first solicited for the church building 
and property at Pine Plains. The church lot, an acre or more, cost $430. 
Charles Babcock, of Red Hook, was the architect and drew the specifica- 
tions for the building. The contract was signed August 14, 1860, by Sam- 
uel Deuel, Richard Peck, and Theron Wilber, the building committee, and 
Philip H. Decker, of Taghkanic, Columbia County, the carpenter and 
builder. The church was to be completed by December 15, 1860, at a con- 
tract price of $1,845. The main building is 28x52, and the chancel and 
robing room about 16x18. The contract did not include the chancel and 
robing room. 

The corner stone was placed September 5, 1860, and the church paper 
deposited therein was prepared by Theron Wilber. A copy of this has 
been preserved. After the historical part of the church the paper ends as 
follows ; 

"And now on this 5th day of September, 1860, by kind assistance from 
the convocation of the clergy and laity of the county, with other individu- 
al generosity and effort, there is a resident missionary at this place, Rev. 
Eugene C. Pattison, the which adds great joy to the household of faith. 
This day's evidence, the laying of the corner stone of this church now 
about to be erected, conclusively shows that neither pastor nor people have 
been slumbering at their posts, and still they labor on in faith, praying 
that God will bless the work by setting forth His own glory in the salva 
tion of immortal souls. 

"At the time of the laying of this corner stone James Buchanan is 
president of the United States of America and Edwin D. Morgan is gov- 
ernor of the state of New York. The Right Rev. Thomas Church Brow- 
nell, D. D., LL. D., is the presiding bishop of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the U. S. of America; the Right Rev. Benjamin Tredwell On- 
derdonk, D. D. , is bishop of the diocese of New York, and the Right Rev. 
Horatio Potter, D. D. , LL. D. . is provisional bishop of the same. 

' ' The Rev. Eugene C. Pattison, presbyter, is missionary in Pine Plains 
and parts adjacent, and minister in charge of the Church of the Regenera- 
tion, and the officers of said church are as follows : Horace F. Smythe, Sen ■ 
ior Warden, Theron Wilber, Junior Warden, and Samuel Deuel, Silas I. 
Deuel, Phenix Bockee, Edward Huntting, Richard Peck, Horace Vibbert, 
James H. Pitcher, Lawrence Barrett, vestrymen. Into the box within this 
stone are deposited a copy of the Holy Bible, a copy of the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer, a journal of the general convention of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church of the United Stares of America, for the year of our Lord 1859, 
a journal of the convention of the diocese of New York for the same year, 
a copy of the church almanac for 1859." 

The house was completed in the spring of 1861. The Rev. Eugene C. 
Pattison was the resident missionary here in 1860, '61, '62 and '63, and on 



226 



HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 



Thursday after Trinity, May 26, 1864, the church was consecrated by Right 
Rev. Horatio Potter, D. D., of New York City. For several years "there- 
after service was conducted by presbyters and lay readers when such could 
be obtained, and until April 22, 1887, when Rev. F. E. Shober was ap- 
pointed Rector, and continued such until November 22, 1889, when he re- 
signed and Rev. Geo. Bremner was elected his successor. Mr. Shober was 
assisted in the services here by Mr. (now Rev.) D. Stuart Hamilton and oth- 
er lay readers. Mr. Bremner continued Rector until his decease in March, 
1891. For some months previous to his death Mr. Bremner was unable to 
take charge of the services, and was assisted by other clergymen and lay 
readers. In May, 1891, Rev. Henry L. Ziegenfuss, S. T. D., of Po'keepsie, 
was elected Rector, and appointed Rev. S. A. Weikert assistant to conduct 
services. Rev. Dr. Ziegenfuss died Feb. 8, 1894. For a time after his 
death the parish was without a Rector, and services were conducted by 
Brother Gilbert, superior of the order of the Brothers of Nazareth. May 
ij, 1894, Rev. W. C. Grubbe became Rector and is now there. 





Richard Peck. 
[See Lineage.] 



CHAPTER XIX. 

BETHEL CHURCH. 

This church was built on the old Round Top church property. (See 
deed under the head of Round Top church.) There is a tradition that the 
road as it is now at that church was established after the deed was given 
in 1769. The deed is evidence to the contrary in saying, "Beginning at a 
Stake and heap of stones on the East Side of the Road thirty-three links 
north of Johan Tice Smith's north line. " The north line of Johan Tice 
Smith was then as now the boundary line between Lot 12 and Lot 30, in 
the Little Nines. Lot 12 embraced the Phenix Deuel, Samuel Tanner and 
Edward Hunting farms, each originally one- third. James Alexander 
owned one third of Lot 30, north of Lot 12, and he commences the bounda- 
ry of the church lot thirty-three links one rod and a third north of the line 
between the two lots. This accounts for the small strip on the Charles 
Hoag farm between the old cemetery and Mr. Deuel. On the east side of 
the road directly opposite, the burying ground was extended just that 
much south to the line between 30, and 12. The original boundary of the 
church lot west of the road seems never to have been disturbed, but that 
part east of the road was narrowed in some way by the possession of ad- 
joining owners, and the exchange made with Mr. Deuel (soon noticed) very 
nearly restored the origical boundary on the east side of the road. 

In passing, a significant thing in the Round Top deed is the " Verbal 
promise to the People of the Lutheran persuasion, and for the worship of 
Almighty God as practiced by the Lutheran Evangelic Churches." This 
makes the old church distinctively Lutheran, and all brought about by the 
perseverance and labor of Johan Tice Smith and Michael Rowe, the pioneers 
and founders of the Lutheran church in this town, the very first church in 
the town except the Moravian mission, and that did not precede it five 
years. It was this express condition in the deed (that it should be Luther- 
an) that caused the withdrawal of the German Reformed to build the 
church near Mr. Pulver's about 1 772. The church property belonged to 
the Lutherans both by promise and in its fulfillment, so there was naught 
to provoke an unfriendly spirit. They separated in peace. 

In 1829, about two years after the Round Top church was taken down, 
some of the Rowe families, principally descendants of Michael Rowe, one of 
the grantees in the deed — Johan Tice Smith having deceased— were desirous 
of making a burial ground for themselves and their descendants on the 
east side of the road. To this end these families through their representa- 
tives, Andrew Rowe and John P. Rowe, and they also on behalf of the 
church property, exchange adjoining lands with Samuel Deuel, then pro- 



THE CHURCHES. 329 

prietor of the Samuel Deuel farm, according to the following agreement, 
written by Stephen Eno, a lawyer at Pine Plains : ' ' Memorandum of an 
agreement bargain and exchange of one small piece of land for an- 
other small piece of land made this 5th day of December. 1829, be- 
tween Andrew Row and John P. Row, for themselves as heirs of 
Michael Row, deceased and as trustees for all the other heirs of 
said Michael Rowe. deceased, of the first part: and Samuel Deuel 
of the second part : Whereas a certain piece of land estimated to be one 
acre, situate in the town of Pine Plains in Dutchess County, has for some 
time past been occupied as a burying ground : This lot of land was con- 
veyed by Peter Van Brugh Livingston to John Tice Smith and Michael 
Raugh by a deed dated May 15, 1769, to hold the same for the purpose of a 
burying ground as may appear from said deed ; and whereas the said party 
of the second part owns land adjoining the said burying ground and hath 
built a small house thereon near the same, and the said party of the first part 
have lately partly fenced in their said lot of a burying ground and they de- 
sire to have a small strip of land from the west side of the said Deuel land 
added to their lot, and the said Deuel is desirous to have them convey and 
relinquish all their claim to a small piece of land adjoining the said house 
on the west side thereof, to be taken from the northeast part of said lot, 
which they the said party of the first part do agree to do in exchange for 
the other small strip of land above mentioned. The strip of land is butted 
and bounded as the new fence now runs, and the other piece of land in 
front of the said house the said parties have this day designated and 
marked out. And it is agreed by and between the said parties that he the 
said Deuel, nor any person claiming under him will at no time hereafter 
enclose or shut np the said piece of land so conveyed to him any further 
than the fence now stands but that the same shall always remain open as a 
common. And the said parties do by these presents mutually release and 
quit claim to each other all their estate right and title to the said pieces of 
land respectively. And the said party of the first part covenant and agree 
to and with the said Deuell that neither they nor any other of the heirs of 
the said Michael Raugh deceased will ever claim any right to or molest the 
said Deuell or his heirt or assigns in the quiet possession and enjoyment of 
the said piece of land so granted as aforesaid. In witness whereof the par- 
ties to these presents have hereunto set their hands and seals the 5th day 
of December in the year 1829. 

Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Bradford Darling, Smith 

Slater. 

Samuel Deuel, 

Andrew Row, 
John P. Rowe. 
Michael Rowe. and later on his heirs, had ever been tenacious of their 
right to that part of the church property east of the road, and after the old 



THE CHURCHES. 231 

church was taken down in 1827 these heirs built an enclosure fence around 
it setting it where they claimed the line should be. This was the "new 
fence " mentioned in the above agreement. It caused disagreement be- 
tween the heirs and the adjoining land owners, and seemed likely to lead 
to trouble. So to settle this matter and avoid future difficulty tbis agreement 
was written and subscribed to by the respective parties and all claims set- 
tled. It was a peaceful solution on both sides, honorable and friendly and 
worthy of commendation. The boundary then agreed upon is the present 
one, and the present Bethel Church stands very near the site of the "small 
house " mentioned in the above agreement. 

In the spring of 1838 the first tangible effort was made for building 
the Bethel Church. Three subscription papers were circulated with the 
following heading: 

" Subscription for erecting a church near the burying ground south of 
the Friends meeting house to be called Pine Plains Union church free for 
every Christian denomination. Seats free. To be commenced the ensu- 
ing winter and completed during the year 1839. We the subscribers prom- 
ise to pay Edward Huntting, John P. Eowe, George Smith or Abraham 
Dibble the several sums annexed to our names for the uses and purposes 
above mentioned. Pine Plains, April 25, 1838." 

The subscribers and amounts were Samuel Deuel $ 100, Betsey Sheldon 
$100, Andrew (Andrus) Row $75, Henry Sheldon $100, Michael M. Row $25, 
Philip M. Row $25, Elijah Row $25, Henry Hoffman $40, John M. Row $50, 
Morris T. Gray $25, Edward Huntting $25, Benjamin S. Wilber $20, Abra- 
ham Dibble $50, Jonathan Deuel $5 Nathaniel Reynolds $10, Lewis Kiefer 
$5, Josiah Johnson $5, Wm. VanAlstyne $15, Isaac Hawkins $5, Peter Hi- 
dorn $8, George Smith $15, Samuel S. Tanner $10, John Thompson $5, An- 
drew Case $5, Richard Hermans $5, Mrs. A. Hoffman $15, John Bartlett 
$10, William Tanner $10, James Briggs $25. Andrew Smith $10, Tibbels 
Rowe $5, Clark Dean $2, Philip E. Rowe$10, Robert Rowe$5. Wm. Wood, 
in $5, Robert Gray $5, Abner Case $5, James Case $10, Matthias Rowe $15, 
John A. Thompson $5, Eli Collins $5 Abram Smith $5, Jacob Keefer $5, 
Jonathan Case $4, Margaret Case $3, Sam'l B. Fairchild $5, Cynthia Smith 
$5, Betsey Husted $5, Philip R. Rowe $1, Philip A. Rowe $1, Bradford Dar- 
ling;$5, Retsey Rowe $25, James W. Smith $10, Walter Reynolds $5, Joshua 
Culver $25, Allen Thompson $10, George Thomas $5, Chas. P. Davis $10, Ez- 
ra B. Hoag $10, Benj'n F. Hoag $5, Phineas K. Sackett $10, Doct. Jaceb I. 
H. Davis $5, Stephen G. Guernsey $5, Henry Kiefer $5, Wm. H. Pulver 
$5. The amount so subscribed was $1,069, and bearing in mind the fact that 
many of the subscribers were specially interested in either the Presbyteri- 
an, Methodist or Baptist churches in Pine Plains, it is quite a remarkable 
showing of interest in this church building. The respect and reverence 
and associations of the old Round Top had not passed away. Of those 
sixty-five subscribers, Robert Rowe, Abner Case and Richard Hermans 
are now living. 



232 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Mr. Carman Cornelius, a carpenter, built the church for the subscrip- 
tions as put down, making his collections, the lumber and other materials 
to be delivered on the ground. He commenced the building in the sum- 
mer of 1839, and finished it the following winter. It is twenty-six by 
thirty-six, eighteen feet posts, with a square tower, and the whole having 
a plain substantial finish oustide and inside. The desk is opposite the en- 
trance, and a gallery in the end opposite the desk. Mr. Cornelius had noth- 
ing to do with the furnishing of stoves and lamps. For these a special pa- 
per was circulated, and small amounts subscribed, amounting to sixty dol- 
lars, sufficient to make the purchases. Hall & Dutton furnished the stoves 
and Russia pipe for $45. The columns for the pipes to rest upon cost 
$10.44. The lamps were put in and by March, 1840, the church was ready 
for dedication. Although undenominational in design, it was by general 
consent deemed appropriate in commemoration of the old church, to have 
the new church dedicated by a Lutheran minister, and to this end Captain 
Henry Strever, of a Pine Plains family, wrote to Rev. Jacob Berger and 
received this reply : 

Mellenville, March 8, 1840. 

Dear Sir : Your name has come before me in connexion with a re- 
quest that I should, at a time convenient for myself, attend the dedication 
of a new church in the town of Pine Plains, three miles from the village. 
I have resolved God willing to comply with the request, and appointed 
Thursday the 9th of April for the solemnity. The above will authorize you 
to make the necessary arrangements. Yours respectfully, 

J. Berger. 

Capt. Henry Strever, P. Plains." 

He came on the day appointed. It was a beautiful spring da)" and the 
house was more than crowded. He read for his text in Genesis, 28th chap- 
ter, from sixteenth to 19th verses, and chose the first half of the 19th for 
his special text. 'And he called the name of that place Bethel." It was 
an able and interesting sermon. Rev. Augustus Wackerhagen, an old and 
respected Lutheran minister, well known in this vicinity, was present, and 
at the close of the sermon made brief and earnest remarks saying among 
other things, " this is a most interesting occasion. We stand on interest- 
ing ground. The Providences of God are sometime mysterious. It is a 
singular fact that a hundred years ago a church was erected to the worship 
of Almighty God on this spot, and to-day, after a century has passed, we 
have dedicated another to His Most Holy name." He was deeply touched, 
and spoke with more than his usual nervous earnest manner. It was from 
this sermon that it was called Bethel church and applied to the hamlet, 
and to the railroad station near by. The Rev. Jacob Berger was a distin- 
guished Lutheran minister, and the first native-born pastor that ministered 
in the Lutheran churches in Columbia County, and the first Lutheran that 
preached in English, as very little was attempted by the earlier ministers. 
He was a native of Schoharie County and the first installed pastor of Christ's 



THE CHURCHES. 233 

Evangelical Lutheran church at Ghent. This was in 1826, and in the same 
year he organized a Lutheran church at Valatie. In 1834 he became pas- 
tor of St. Thomas Lutheran church at Churchtown and held the pastorate 
of these three churches until his death in 1842, two years after the dedica- 
tion of the Bethel church. He was buried in the cemetery of the St. 
Thomas Lutheran church at Churchtown. 

A general interest was taken in the church after the dedication. Meet- 
ings were held nearly every Sabbath, principally by the ministers of the 
Pine Plains churches. The community were proud of their Bethel church. 
In 1844 or '5 Mr. Chittenden, pastor of the Methodist church at Pine Plains, 
held a series of "revival meetings" assisted by the members of that 
church. The house was filled at each meeting and it was said great good 
had been accomplished. Thus matters went on smoothly until 1857. In 
May of that year a subscription was circulated to raise funds ' ' for the pur 
pose of repairing the Bethel church. " The subscribers were principally 
from the neighborhood and of the original subscribers. George Smith $10, 
Samuel Deuel $10, Philip M. Rowe $10, Clinton Rowe $10, Edward Huntt- 
ing $10, Jane E. Dibble $8, Phebe Huntting $5, Tibbels Row $5, Robert 
Rowe $5, Samuel Tanner $5, John Case $5. These were the highest sums, 
and the whole amount was about $120. Soon after commenced the war of 
the Bethel church sectarian rebellion, and the proverbial tenacity and fol- 
ly engendered in a church disagreement followed, and all for the lack of a 
little charity. Then was manifest as had been before and has been since, 
not only there but the wide world over, the evils of a " Union church." 
The less said about it the better. The estranged families have become 
changed or are gone, and the actors too, yet the iniquity affected even the 
church building. It was left alone, spiritless, dying by inches, without a 
friend, and siones cast at it and through the windows into it in derision 
and scorn. Blessings had been turned into curses. However, the church 
was kept fairly comfortable, and services held there from time to time for 
twenty years after the quarrel, when repairs were again needed to preserve 
the building, the roof in particular becoming leaky. In the fall of 1881 a 
paper was circulated to raise funds for these repairs. Tibbels Rowe sub- 
scribed $10, Michael Row, of Millerton, $10, Samuel Tanner $8, Chauncey 
Rowe $5, Edward Huntting $5, John Case $5, William Wilber $6. John 
Rowe $5 and others of less amounts, amounting with the old roof shingles 
sold to $82. 50. A new roof was put on and repairs on the tower and 
other matters amounting to $83. 03. In 1886 repairs were again made by 
puttying and painting the windows, and putting in about 60 window 
fights and again in 1890 blind window shutters were put on, leaving the 
church in its present condition. For several years past Mrs. Phenix Deuel 
has conducted Sabbath school there every Sabbath afternoon. This and 
for funerals is about the only service in the church. By-laws for the care 
and regulation of the church and property were agreed upon at its erec- 
tion and are still in force. Trustees are elected and business meetings are 
recorded in the church book. 



CHAPTER XX. 

CHURCH AT PULVER'S CORNERS. 

This church building was built on land donated by "Uncle Helmus " 
in 1853 or '4, at a cost of about $1,800, total expense, of which about $1,400 
was raised by subscriptions. Harman W. Pulver paid the shortage of $400' 
to liquidate all claims. "That was a large sum for you to pay," I said to 
him. He replied "Oh, I didn't mind it much, the times were good then." 
Eli Collin, Anthony Pulver and Harman W. Pulver were the building 
committee. The building was 32x40 and had a cupola, and Orville Rowe 
was the boss builder. In 1865 lightning damaged the cupola and it was 
removed, leaving the church building as it is now. The church was free 
to all denominations, and in its early years was occupied by Rev. William 
N. Sayre, who took an active part in its erection. He preached the dedi- 
catory sermon in 1854, and in fact held regular service there until his res- 
ignation of the Presbyterian church at Pine Plains in 1883. It has been 
occupied, however, by ministers of other denominations as they chose to 
make appointments. No organized church society was ever formed there, 
but a Sabbath school had been held in it, from its erection until near the 
present time. The building now needs repairs in window lights and paint, 
otherwise it is in a fair state of preservation. 






CHAPTER XXI. 

CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

The first action for the erection of this church was at a meeting held 
at Lafayetteville June 12, 1858. As a result subscription papers were 
thereafter circulated and at the next meeting, August 21, 1858, at Uriah 
Hicks', $500 had been subscribed, Elder P, Roberts was present and sug- 
gested that three hundred dollars additional be raised at this meeting, 
which was done, and Uriah Hicks, Benj. Wilbur, Jeptha S. Wilbur, Sam- 
uel I. Hicks and Stephen Tompkins were elected "Trustees of the First 
Christian Society of Pine Plains." The church organization took place 
September 7, 1858, at the house of Stephen Tompkins by Elder Philetus 
Roberts and R. B. Eldridge, and was recorded in the County Clerk's office 
October 22, 18G0. The church edifice (located in West Pine Plains) was 
completed the next year (1859) and dedicated June 16th, by Eli Fay, of 
Yellow Springs, Ohio. The early pastors have been in succession, Philetus 
Roberts, R. B. Eldridge, W. B. Hote, Gardner Dean, George B. Fuller, L. 
D. North, J. Q. Evans, and supplies later have been from the Christian 
Biblical Institute at Stanford ville and other places. 

At the last annual meeting Dec. 19, 1896, the following officers were 
elected : For mission work, Sarah D. Coxmelius, Eliza D. Osterhout, Mabel 
Funk, Edith Funk, Phebe Dunbar and Elizabeth Smith. Deacons, Jordan 
Cornelius, Jacob M. Osterhout. Trustees, Jordan Cornelius, Jacob M. 
Osterhout, Willard W. Hicks. Clerk, Willard W. Hicks. 




CHAPTER XXII. 



AUTOGRAPHS. 



The following autographs represent many of the prominent residents 
in old North East Precinct, and later the old town of North East, and still 
later the town of Pine Plains. The originals were gathered from old town 
papers to which the names were attached officially, and therefore the 
names represent the officers of the town, and the dates attached give the 
time when. A few names are in the list who were not identified with 
North East Precinct, nor its subsequent division into townships. The ear- 
liest date among these is John Sackett, a son of Richard Sackett the land 
patentee. The list as a whole is a very interesting historical exhibit, and 
its value historically is inestimable, as the names cannot now be duplicated 
from the originals. The dates do not imply that the persons they repre- 
sent in name, were not residents earlier or later of the respective towns, 
but as evidence of that particular year only. 




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CHAPTER XXIII. 
WARREN MASONIC LODGE, NO. 157. 

Freemasonry had a membership and an influence in this section of this 
county at a comparatively early date. The earliest organization of the or- 
der was Temple Lodge, at Spencer's Corners, in North East Precinct, under 
a Provincial charter granted September 20, 1785, soon after the close of 
the Revolution. Its jurisdiction embraced North East Precinct, Amenia 
Precinct and Charlotte Precinct, which included the present towns of 
Washington, Stanford, Amenia, North East, Pine Plains and Milan. A 
few years after the organization of Temple Lodge — possibly five or six — 
Lafayette Lodge, No. 19, of Amenia, was organized, and June 27, 1793, 
Payne Lodge, No. 27. of Amenia, was organized, and its officers were in- 
stalled on the above date by the worshipful master of Lafayette Lodge. 
Payne Lodge had a warrant at this time and the officers installed were 
Barnabas Payne, W. M., Cyrenius Crosby, S. W., Rufus Case, J. W., 
James Kinney, S. D., Ebenezer Kinney, J. D., Simon Murdock, Treasurer, 
and Stephen Eno, Secretary. Four years later, 1797. this lodge jietitioned 
to the Grand Lodge to have the name changed to Hiram Lodge, and De- 
cember 6, 1797, the grand lodge changed the name accordingly. The 
cause of this change was the "indecent attacks on Christianity " by Barna- 
bas Payne, in whose honor the lodge had been named, whereby he had 
made himself " generally odious. " Dec. 27, soon after this change, the 
lodge opened a mark master's degree and installed members in that degree. 
Some time between this and December, 1838, this lodge lost its warrant or 
had it returned to the grand lodge, and December 3, 1806. a new warrant 
was issued by the grand lodge, the lodge retaining its name and number. 
DeWitt Clinton was then grand master and the warrant allowed them to 
hold lodge in the town of Washington or Amenia. William Lathrop was 
master of the lodge, Daniel Parsons senior warden, and Russel Herrick 
junior warden. This warrant was declared forfeited in 1832 and surren- 
dered to the grand lodge in 1843. A book of minutes and a register of the 
early members of this lodge is in the grand lodge. 

Warren Lodge, of Pine Plains, was formed principally if not wholly, 
from members of Temple Lodge at Spencer's Corner, now North East, 
The installation under a dispensation from DeWitt Clinton, Grand Master, 
took place January 27. 1808, at Pine Plains, the following persons acting 
as grand officers : Samuel Edwards, master of Tammany lodge, Grand Mas- 
ter; J. Person, G. S. W. ; Samuel Owen, G. J. W. ; Enos Hopkins, G. S. ; 
Aaron E. Winchell, G. T. ; Peter Mills, G. S. D. ; Jonathan Reynolds, G. J. 
D. ; More Bird, Tyler. The officers installed for Warren Lodge were Mar- 



250 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

tin Lawrence W. M., Ezra L. Barrett S. W., Leonard Barton (Doctor) J. 
W., Joshua Culver, S. D., Thomas Stevenson J. D., Benjamin R. Bostwick 
Sec, Israel Harris Treasurer, Daniel Smith and Henry I. Hiserodt Stew 
ards, and Peter Newkirk Tyler. Past masters who were present were 
Daniel Willson, William Peck, Simon Dakin, Moses Combs. Other breth- 
ren present were Henry Hoffman, Jonathan Lewis, Geo. W. Lewis, Seth 
Harris and Fyler Dibblee. A committee of by-laws was appointed consist- 
ing of Fyler Dibblee, Joshua Culver. Israel Harris, Jonathan Lewis, Ezra 
L. Barrett, after which the lodge closed "till the 10th day of February next 
at 4 o'clock in the afternoon." This w r as the formation of Warren Lodge, 
No. 157. Three years before this Fyler Dibblee had built a hotel on the 
corner of the present Ketterer hotel and with a prospective view of a ma- 
sonic Lodge in Pine Plains he finished a complete and comfortable lodge 
room in the upper story of the hotel, where this installation occurred. 
The officers installed were residents of what is now the town and village of 
Pine Plains, excepting Martin Lawrence, the master, who lived in North 
East, and Doctor Leonard Barton, who lived in Stanford. Martin Law- 
rence held the office of master only a few months and was probably in- 
stalled in name only, as Ezra L. Barrett was the acting master until Nov- 
ember first of that year(1808) when he was eleeted master officially. Some 
events during the early years of this lodge are interesting. 

"Brother Peter Husted" was buried with Masonic honors Aug. 17th, 
1808, and officers and members of Temple Lodge attended. St. John's 
(Baptist) day, June 24. 1812, was celebrated at Pine Plains. Rev. Mr. Gil- 
bert delivered the oration. LaFayette, Hiram, Temple and Washington 
lodges were present. The secretary engaged three clarionets, two bassoons 
and a bass drum for the music. Mr. Holley, master of Temple Lodge 
(North East) and Harry Winchester of Pine Plains were committee of ar- 
rangements. Doctor John F. Bartlett, of Red Hook, was made a member 
of Warren Lodge in 1814. Ebenezer Wadsworth, Righ't Worshipful Grand 
Visitor, presided at the Lodge Jan. 11, 1815, and again Feb. 24, 1816. St. 
John's (Baptist) day, June 24, 1816, E. Taylor marshal!, Brothers Loomis 
and Sheldon appointed a " committee to wait on the sisterhood." Israel 
Harris of Warren Lodge and Hiram Reynolds of Temple Lodge were com- 
mittee on procession. Music and refreshments $25. Paid Rev. Mr. Gilbert 
nineteen dollars. Officers and members of Temple Lodge present. Can- 
dles were used for lighting the lodge and May 6, 1817, Mr. Trowbridge, 
who was the inn keeper, was paid eight dollars for candles by brother Tay- 
lor. St. John's day, June 24. 1817, Warren Lodge went to Temple Lodge 
to join in a celebration at the house of Simon Dakin, North East. Walter 
Husted, James C. Husted and Harry Husted were made members in 1818. 
St. John's (Baptist), June 24, 1819, was celebrated here. Committee on ar- 
rangements Silas Harris, E. Taylor, A. Parsons ; committee on music J. 
Deuel, James G. Husted, Richard A. Hamlin: committee on singing Wal- 




Morgan Hunttinq. 

[See Lineage.] 



252 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

ter Husted, John Snyder, Harry Husted. Silas Harris was master of the 
lodge. Ebenezer Wadsworth, Right Worshipful Grand Visitor, was here 
three days in July, 1819. Daniel Smith, brother of James W. Smith, was 
buried with masonic honors April 10, 1821. It was voted that the lodge 
wear mourning for brother Smith six months. Warren Lodge celebrated 
t3t. Johns June 24, 1822, with Temple Lodge. Walter Husted, son of Pe- 
ter Husted, a popular and worthy citizen, much esteemed in the order of 
masons, was buried with masonic honors at Pine Plains April 16, 1823. 
Temple Lodge honored him by attending the funeral. The minutes of 
that lodge in regard thereto say, ' ' Temple Lodge extra opened on the first 
step of masonry in due form April 16, 1823, for the purpose of attending 
the funeral of Bro. Walter Husted. Present Bro. Philip Chase, W. M., 
Bro. David Dakin, S. W., pro tern, Bro. Wm. P. Cutter, J. W., pro tern, Bro. 
H. Reynolds, treasurer, pro tern, H. Dakin, Secretary. This Lodge closed 
and to stand closed until God gives us another opportunity to open it. "In 
Warren Lodge, of which Mr. Husted was a member, Silas Harris and Al- 
len Sheldon were committee to make the necessary preparations at the 
house. Temple Lodge was admitted in the procession, the officers of the 
two lodges respectively wearing their jewels. E. Taylor was marshal. 
The bearers were F. J. Curtis, S. G. Guernsey, B. Kelley, P. Smith, B. 
Darling, W. P. Cutter, P. B. Knickerbocker, H. Reynolds. Jonathan Lew- 
is, A. Corey, E. Spencer, Benj. Thorne, and it is said there was besides the 
fraternity a very large attendance of citizens resident near and distant. 
At the next St. John's day, June 24, 1823, crape was worn to his memory, 
and in the celebration of this day Warren Lodge invited Temple Lodge, 
LaFayette, Hiram, Widow's Son, Montgomery of Salisbury, and Montgom- 
ery of Rhinebeck. Stephen Guernsey and Allen Sheldon, of Warren Lodge, 
and W. P. Cutter and Hiram Hamlin, of Temple Lodge, were a committee 
to wait upon the ladies. St. John's (Baptist) June 24, 1825, was celebrated 
by Warren Lodge when Rev. Mr. Prentiss, of Athens, "was employed to 
preach a sermon. " St. John's day (Baptist) 1828, was celebrated when 
Rev. C. P. Wilson, living in Amenia, delivered the address. He was voted 
a member of this lodge September 23, 1828. 

Israel Harris was buried with masonic honors March 6, 1832. Rev. 
Bro. Beach delivered the address at the setting of his head stone. St. 
John's day (Baptist) was celebrated Monday, June 25, 1832. Rev. Mr. Bar- 
low delivered the address in the Presbyterian church for which in the 
lodge minutes he received "the thanks of this Lodge for his eloquent and 
pertinent address delivered this day and request a copy of the same for 
publication.'' F. A. Curtis, Wm. VanAlstyne and Silas Harris were ap- 
pointed a committee to attend to the same. In 1841 the number of War- 
ren Lodge was changed from 157. to number 32. The last entry in the 
records of this Lodge for Pine Plains is under date of August 25, 1856. 
In 1860 the Lodge name and records moved to LaFayette, about seven miles 
west of Pine Plains, and in 1865 it went to Shultzville. 

These are onlv a few dots on the historical line of this society and are 



WARREN MASONIC LODGE 253 

not intended to reflect its inner life. No Lodge in the county had in its 
membership more ardent or zealous workers than Warren Lodge up to 
the time of the reported ahdnction of William Morgan in 1826, and even in 
the dark decade of freemasonry following that event Warren Lodge kept 
up its meetings and records when very many of the country lodges were 
deprived of their warrants and surrendered their charters to the grand 
lodge of the state. The Morgan matter of 1826 was followed immediately 
by the publication of pamphlets and hooks claiming to reveal the secrets of 
the order in all its degrees. Conspicuous among such were " Light on Ma- 
sonry" quite a large book, $1.50. "Morgan's Illustrations of Free Masonry," 
"Free Masonry," $1.25, "Sumner's Opinion of Free Masonry," "Free Ma- 
sonry a Covenant With Death," "Anti-Masonic tracts" Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5, 
Vols. 1 and 2, Anti Masonic Review, Giddins', New England and Sun Anti- 
Masonic Almanacs. "Allen's Ritual," "Morgan's Exposition." These are 
a few taken from the fly leaf of a pamphlet before me and were published 
from 1826 to 1832 in Philadelphia. New York, Hartford, Boston and other 
principal cities in this state and the New England States. The circulation 
of these books and pamphlets culminated in a call for an Anti-Masonic 
convention in Philadelphia on Sept. 11, 1830, where Myron Holley, chair- 
man of an anti-masonic committee, delivered an address " to the people of 
the United States," which was published in a pamphlet of twenty two 
pages, and sent out broad-cast. This pamphlet is scarce and probably 
hard to get, and is now valuable only as an index of the public excitement 
at that time. It commences with the alleged abduction and murder of 
William Morgan, to which it devotes five or six pages, then a pretended 
exposition of the degrees of free masonry and devotes several pages in 
closing to the dangers to our judicial and legislative system by oaths and 
clandestine meetings. It was made a political hobby, and in this regard 
its influence was confined principally to New York state where the alleged 
crime was committed. But it had the effect to check seriously for a time 
the growth of Freemasonry in the New England and Middle States, and 
blot out many names of early lodges. The landmarks, however, have not 
materially changed and new lodges have sprung up from the old Phenix 
ashes. The following is a list of worshipful masters and of service of 
Warren Lodge. Martin Lawrence, January 27, 1808, Ezra L. Barrett 
l808-'9, Israel Harris 1810-11, Henry Winchester 1812, Israel Harris 1813- 
14, Abraham Parsons 1815, Allen Sheldon 1816, Epaphroditus Taylor 1817, 
Silas Harris 1818, Israel Harris 1819-20, John S. Harris 1821-22, Jno. Deuel 
1823, John S. Harris 1824, Henry Husted 1825-26, Henry Hoffman, Jr., 
1827, John Perry, Jr., 1828, E. Taylor 1829-30-31-32, Morgan Huntting 
1833-34-35-36-37-38-39-40-41-42, David Dakin 184:5, Morgan Hunting 1844- 
-45-46, E. Taylor 1847 48 49-50. Wm. W. Smith 1851-52, E. Taylor 1853, de- 
ceased Jan. 26, following the December election, Cornelius Pitcher 1854, 
Wm. H. Scutt 1855, John J. Losee 1856, John W. Snyder 1857-58, the 
last master and year recorded for Warren Lodge at Pine Plains. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
STISSING MASONIC LODGE. 

Stissing Lodge F. & A. M, was organized in 1866 and held their first 
meeting under a dispensation July second of that year in the room of the 
old Warren Lodge in the hotel then kept by Mrs. Jones, now Mr. Ketterer, 
who since then has done away with the old room by adding a story to the 
building. The first officers were Lewis D. Huntting, W. M. ; Wm. H. 
Scutt, S. W. ; Clark Guernsey, J. W. ; Isaiah Dibble, Sec. ; Mulford Conk- 
lin, Treas. : Cornelius Pitcher, S. D. ; Fred Dibble, J. D. ; William Cars- 
kadden, Tyler. In the same month the Lodge rented the "Stissing Hall " 
then owned by William A. Rowe, in which they held their first meeting- 
July 30, 1866. This "Stissing Hall" has since been changed to a dwelling 
and is now occupied by Lawrence Barrett and family. In July, 1867, the 
Lodge received a charter No. 615, and in the same month the following 
officers under the charter were installed by S. P. Tompkins : Lewis D. 
Hunting, W. M. : Wm. H. Scutt, S. W. ; Clark Guernsey. J. W. ; Mulford 
Conklin, Treas. ; Dr. D. E. Stillman, Sec. ; Cornelius Pitcher, S. D. ; Fred 
Dibble, J. D. ; William Carskadden, Tyler. In 1868 the lodge moved to a 
room over the harness shop of R. D. Hicks where it is now, but the build- 
ing was then west of the Bowman opera house, and was afterward moved 
to its present location. The following is the list of worshipful masters and 
the years they served : Lewis D. Hunting 1866, '67, '68, '69, '70: Dr. D. E. 
Stillman 1871, '72, '73; Frank Eno 1874, '75, '76, '77, '78, '79, '80. '81, '82, 
'83, '84; Charles S. Wilber 1885, '86; John S. Niver 1887, Frank Eno 1888, 
'89, '90, '91, '92, '93, '94; Artemas S. Barton 1895, "96. 



,,-^\ ; 




^»a^ 



Lewis D. Hunttinq. 
[See Lineage.] 



CHAPTER XXV. 

PINE PLAINS LIBRARY. 

The first action towards a library at Pine Plains was at a meeting held 
for that purpose at the public house of Ebenezer Baldwin (Stissing House) 
December 14, 1 797. Subscription papers were there drawn up for circula- 
tion. The amount agreed upon for each subscriber was two dollars and 
fifty cents, which was called a share or right. The meeting adjourned to 
meet again January 9, 1798, at the same place. This was then North East 
Town, but this effort was confined to the then small village and its near 
surroundings. At the time appointed the meeting was held and reported 
the following subscribers to the library; Jesse Thompson, Samuel Waters, 
Ebenezer Dibblee, Ebenezer Baldwin, John A. Turck, Cornelius W. Van- 
Ranst, Israel Reynolds, Hugh Gamble, Asahel Haskins, Nathaniel Stone, 
James Graham, John Waters, Peter Husted, Moses Barlow, John Knick- 
erbocker, Jr., Robert Camron, David Orr, George Sheldon, John Harris, Si- 
las Husted, Elijah Adams, Andrew Camron, Allen Sheldon, John C. Knick- 
erbocker, Christopher Schultz, John Wigram, Isaac VanLuvan, Hendrick 
F. Hoysradt, Caleb Reynolds, Israel Curtis, John I. Hoysradt, John H< 
Sharpstone, Martinus Miller, John A. Hoysradt, William A. Stickle, Isaiah 
Dibble, Gerardus Winans. Martin Hoysradt, Eseck Wilber, Esborn San- 
ford, Caleb Norton, Jacob Couse, Isaac B. Smith, Benjamin Wilbur, Ger- 
mond Husted, Caleb Finch, Joseph Sutherland. Of these forty-seven sub- 
scribers, two, Allen Sheldon and Martinus Miller, lived in "Livingston," 
now Ancram and Gallatin. At this meeting of January 9, 1798, trustees 
were chosen by ballot to wit: Ebenezer Dibblee, Samuel Waters, John 
Harris, Silas Husted, Christopher Schultz, Ebenezer Baldwin, George 
Sheldon, Hugh Gamble, Peter Husted, Israel Reynolds, Asahel Haskins, 
John A. Turck. Ebenezer Dibblee was chosen chairman of the board of 
trustees, and was instructed to prepare a certificate of the proceedings of 
the board and have the same recorded in the office of the county clerk. At 
their next meeting, Feb. 17, 1798, Mr. Dibblee reported as having placed 
with the county clerk this certificate : 

" This may certify that at a meeting of the Subscribers for the first 
public library in the town of North East. Dutchess county, (denominated 
Union Library) on Tuesday, the ninth day of January, One Thousand 
Seven Hundred and Ninety Eight, the following Gentlemen were duly 
elected to serve as Trustees' for said Library the year ensuing. [Names as 
above.] Given under my hand and seal the 9th day of January, 1798. 

"Ebenezer Dibblee, Chairman." 

This incorporated the Union Library of Pine Plains under the statute, 
and "the first Public Library in the town of North East." At this meet- 
ing of Feb. 17, 1798, the following resolutions were passed: 



THE LIBRARY. 257 

1st — The treasurer and librarian shall be separate for the ensuing year. 

2d — Samuel Waters chosen chairman. 

3d — Asahel Haskins chosen librarian. 

4th — The first quarterly meeting to be held at the house of Ebenezer 
Baldwin on the second Tuesday of April next (10th) at two o'clock, p. m. 

5th — A committee be chosen to form the By-Laws of Union Library. 

6th — The number of committees to consist of five, viz: Samuel Waters, 
Ebenezer Dibblee, Ebenezer Baldwin, Peter Husted, Asahel Haskins. 

At the next meeting April 10th, 1798, the following by daws " after a 
second reading were unanimously agreed to. " 

First — That said trustees of said library shall have full power to re- 
ceive from any of the Proprietors, books at their appraised value for any 
number of shares in said library, provided such books shall not be received 
in payment for any monies to be paid to said institution. 

Second — The library shall be kept in the (center or on what is called the 
Pine Plains in the) Town of North East. 

Third — The librarian shall have power (in his absence) to appoint a 
substitute to transact the duties of his office. 

Fourth — Every transfer right either of books or other property in said 
library shall be under hand and seal, and shall be approved of by the libra- 
rian and entered on his book of record. 

Fifth — All fines and forfeitures arising in Union Library shall be ap- 
propriated to use and augmentation of the institution. 

After passing these by laws at this meeting a resolution was passed 
that a committee of three be appointed to make a list of books to be pur- 
chased. Samuel Waters, Ebenezer Dibblee and Ebenezer Baldwin were 
chosen to select and purchase the books and in November, 1798, they re- 
ceived from the treasurer one hundred and six dollars and thirty-six cents, 
and went to New York and purchased ninety-five volumes. Eighteen 
more were contributed about the same time making one hundred and thir- 
teen, the first books that were placed on the shelves of the Pine Plains li- 
brary. It is very interesting to read the names of these library boots of 
a hundred years ago. I copj r the list as recorded commencing with No. 1. 
The librai-ian, Asahel Haskins, however, has failed to put works of two or 
more volumes in consecutive order, which is somewhat confusing. The 
books are Aikin's Letters to a Son, Winterbotham's History America, 4 
vols., Winterbotham's Atlas, Paley's Philosophy, Pope's Works, 7 vols., 
Thompson's Seasons, Evelina, 2 vols., Antidote to Deism, 2 vols., Embassy 
to China, Rollin's Ancient History, 10 vols. , Hume's History England, 
6 vols. , Goldsmith's Natural History, 4 vols. , Fool Quality, 5 vols. , Wash- 
ington's Letters, 2 vols. , Zimmerman's Solitude, Vision of Columbus, Stal- 
lian, 2 vols., Seneca's Morals, Preceptor, 2 vols., Gill Bias, 4 vols., Trum- 
bull's History Connecticut, Edward, 2 vols. , Packet Magazine, Robertson's 
History Charles Fifth, 3 vols. , Smellie's Philosophy, Pope's Odyssey, Vol- 
ney's Travels, 2 vols., Whitney's History, Stile's Judges, Milton's Works, 
Burk's dignity, Human Nature, Volney's Ruins, Jefferson's Notes, Resi- 



258 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

dence in France, Blair's Sermons, vol. 1, 3, Lock's Essays, 3 vols. , Abridged, 
Jeny's View, Condorect, Butler's Hudibras, Homer's Iliad, Works of Dr. 
Franklin, History of China, 2 vols., Messiah, Young's Night Thoughts, 
McFingal, Prison of Paris, Payne's Epitome of History, Lady's Library, 
Carver's Travels. Finlay's Kentucky, 2 vols., Watt's Essays, Rights of Wo- 
men, Paley's Evidence, Travels of Cyrus, Expedition to Egypt, Grand 
Prie's Voyage, 2 vols. , Voyage in Search of Perouse, 2 vols. , Parents' 
Friend, 2 Vols,, Blair's Lectures, 2 vols. Probably not many of these books 
can be found now, and would not be read if they could be found. 

Thus in November, 1793, the library was ready for the loan of books, 
and Ebenezer Baldwin who then kept the hotel on the site of the now 
Stissing House, was librarian, and held that office until January 1, 1800, 
when he was succeeded by Israel Reynolds. January 1, 1799, the annual 
meeting of the corporation was held and Jesse Thompson, Ebenezer Dib- 
blee, Ebenezer Baldwin, John A. Turck, Samuel Waters, Cornelius W. 
VanRanst and Peter Husted were chosen trustees. This meeting and oth- 
er meetings near this date were held at the public house of Ebenezer Bald, 
win. In January, 1800, the amount of library money in the hands of the 
treasurer was six dollars and four cents, and in this month also ten addi- 
tional by-laws were passed, making fifteen in all. They covered the draw- 
ing of books and general management of the library. A book could be 
held six weeks, and one cent fine for every day over that time. The libra- 
rian was to assess damages to the books loaned, ' ' viz. for the least grease 
spot, or rend or soil beyond common usage three cents, and for all greater 
damage in like proportion, having reference to the size of the book and the 
set to which it belongs." 

July 2, 1800, Tuesday, the trustees held a meeting at the house of Israel 
Reynolds, who had succeeded Ebenezer Baldwin, of the Stissing House 
property. They met there again in January, 1801. In August of that 
year they met at the store of Ebenezer Dibblee & Son. The first Tuesday in 
January, 1802, they met at the house of Asahel Haskins, who it is supposed 
kept the hotel on the site of the now Ketterer hotel. On the second Tues- 
day in April of that year, 1802, they met at the house of Peter Newkirk, 
who had succeeded Israel Reynolds. They met there again in October of 
that year and also at that house in January, 1803, when Fyler Dibblee was 
chosen treasurer and librarian. The second Tuesday in April of that year 
they met at the house of Benjamin R. Bostwick, who it is said kept the 
hotel at that time on the now Ketterer property, but the meetings follow- 
ing in that year were held at the house of Peter Newkirk. 

The original subscribers of two dollars and fifty cents were "proprie- 
tors," and share-holders, and the shares, $2.50, were transferable under 
hand and seal of the proprietor and approved by the librarian who 
kept record of such transfers. They were personal estate, and in cases of 
decease fell to the heirs. Transfers commenced in March, 1799, the next 




Stephen Eno. 
[See Lineage.] 



260 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

year after the library was organized, and seem to be recorded with care 
and regularity for eight or ten years following, when the records show less 
transfers. 

From 1798 to 1804 no changes occurred in this library association oth- 
er than election of officers and minor matters in the routine of business. 
In May, 1803, Stephen Eno, the ancestor of the Pine Plains name, came to 
this village and settled on the " Stephen Eno property " on South street, 
which he purchased of William Bassett With the purchase of this real es- 
tate he also purchased Bassett's right or share in the library. At the first 
annual meeting following, which was the first Tuesday in January, 1804, 
the trustees chosen for the "Union Library" were Jesse Thompson, John 
Harris, Fyler Dibblee, Thomas Stephenson, Benjamin R. Bostwick, John 
A. Turck and Stephen Eno. One week from that day the trustees met at 
Peter Newkirk's, Jesse Thompson being chairman, and appointed Stephen 
Eno librarian and treasurer, which offices he held without a break, I think, 
until 1829. His early life and training had fitted him for this position. He 
appreciated the value of books and a library as an educator of the commu- 
nity. He was the life of the library. A donation of books to the amount 
of two dollars and fifty cents made the donor a subscriber or proprietor. 
Books for this library were then principally purchased from individuals in 
the vicinity. For illustration, he purchased of Hugh Gamble four volumes 
■of Adventures of a Guinea, of another four volumes of Domestic Encyclo- 
pedia, of Bernard Mathison eight volumes of Gibbon's Rome for twenty 
dollars in 1808. In 1816 of John L. Knickerbocker the History of New York, 
two volumes by Knickerbocker; in 1817 of Silas Germond History of Ire- 
land four volumes. Books were bought of Paraclete Potter, who had a 
bookstore in Poughkeepsie. In the list purchased by Mr. Eno possibly 
within twenty years I find Roderick Random two volumes, Shakspeare nine 
volumes, Burns' Poems, two volumes of Thaddeus of Warsaw, three vol- 
umes of The Rambler, two volumes of the Alhambra, Tooker's Pantheon, 
Byron's Poems three volumes, Literary Magazine twelve volumes pur- 
chased from Fyler Dibblee in April 1825 at six shillings each, two volumes 
of Tales of the Crusades, Hogg's Tales two volumes, Robinson Crusoe, and 
that curious book The Koran. Can any one tell or will any one tell what 
became of this old book ? The Koran is in the library now, but is a recent 
publication. 

These are some of the old books in this library in 1828. The number 
at that time according to the register was two hundred and sixty-one. Mr. 
Eno ceased to continue as an officer in the association from old age, and 
not much increase was made to the number of volumes nor interest in the 
library after his resignation until about thirty years since, when the inter- 
est revived, and financial aid came to libraries throughout the state by leg- 
islation, and meanwhile the fund was kept up by voluntary subscription 



THE LIBRARY. 



261 



from the town people and annual dues from the share-holders, In lX!). r > it 
passed to the control of the state board of regents. Mr. Fi-ank Eno has 
been the librarian for several years, and holds that office now. The list 
shows about 2,500 volumes, but by loss and mutilation probably the actual 
number is about two hundred short of that amount. 

The old register of the "Union Library" is a valuable book of history. 
Very much of name and date it contains is not found in any other 
book in the town. 





CHAPTER XXVI. 

SEYMOUR SMITH ACADEMY AND PINE PLAINS UNION FREE SCHOOL. 

The Seymour Smith Academy came into being by the bequest in his 
■will which reads " I bequeath my entire estate to the town of Pine Plains 
for the especial purpose of aiding said town in establishing an academy for 
the promotion of science find useful knowledge." The will bears date 
March 12, 1861. He was a son of Peter Smith and Sarah Winans, who 
about 1760 settled in Charlotte Precinct, on the lands adjoining the present 
boundary of Stanford and Pine Plains, the farm known later as the Tripp- 
Hicks farm on Huntting Hill in the town of Stanford. A few years later 
they moved to a farm in the present limits of Pine Plains, near the south 
boundary of the town, where Nelson Bathrick now lives, and there Aug- 
ust 7, 1779, Seymour Smith was born. His. great grandfather, Daniel 
Smith, came from England and was among the earliest setlers in Con- 
necticut. 

Seymour Smith spent his early life in this town, in his youth attend- 
ing the district school of that time, limited in its means and manner of 
education, finishing Ins education by a short term in a Po'keepsie school 
with Walter Cunningham, Thomas 1a Davies, Harry Conklin, Stephen 
Thorne and Jacob VanBenthuysen associate pupils. He returned to Pine 
Plains and in the war of 1812 raked a company of volunteers for a year's 
service, and was stationed at Staten Island. At the expiration of his ser- 
vice lie returned to this town and soon after leased the now Henry Knick- 
erbocker farm about three miles east of the village. Here he was an in- 
dustrious and energetic farmer, and a successful grower of barley and 
wheat. At the close of the lease he purchased a farm on the east bank of 
the Hudson River, near the boundary line of Clermont and Germantown 
in Columbia county about twelve miles from Hudson. This was his first 
and only home, His taste and inclination was to produce the best of all 
products. He had the best breeds of cattle and the choicest varieties of 
fruit. He took more premiums on his farm products than any one exhib- 
itor at the agricultural societies where he exhibited. "Excelsior" was his 
motto. On this farm he deceased a bachelor on Nov. 26, 1863. Adjoining 
the southern driveway in the Evergreen Cemetery at Pine Plains stands a 
marble shaft surmounted by an urn erected to his memory. On one side 
•of it we read, " Seymour Smith, born August 7, 1779, died Nov. 26, 1863. 
He was a soldier in the American army in the war with Great Britain in 
1812. He bequeathed his entire estate to the town of Pine Plains to estab- 
lish an Academy for the promotion of knowledge." 

To carry out this provision of his will an act was passed by the legisla- 




Seymour Smith. 

[See Lineage.] 



■364 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

ture Feb. 19, 1864, "authorizing the town of Pine Plains, Dutchess County,, 
to take the bequest given it by the will of Seymour Smith, deceased, and 
to carry into execution the object for which said bequest was given." 

In accordance with this act a board of trustees was chosen to receive 
and invest the money, the amount being about six thousand dollars, which 
was allowed to accumulate until 1877, when the building was erected. 
Hezekiah Andrews, of Hillsdale, was the carpenter builder. The building 
is of wocd, forty by sixty eight, two stories and a mansard, resting on a 
high basement wall of brick, making in all four stories, tastefully trimmed 
with mouldings, scrolls and brackets, is warmed throughout by steam, 
and has hot and cold water on every floor. All the rooms are com- 
modious and pleasant and well arranged for the purposes designed. 
Forty boarding pupils can be accommodated. The board of trustees at the 
time of its erection were Walter W. Husted, Frank Eno, Jonas Knicker- 
bocker, Phenix Deuel, John A. Herrick, William S. Eno, Henry Myers, 
John A. Thompson, Harmon W. Pulver. John Righter, Leander Smith, 
Ury Hicks. Walter W. Husted was president of the board, Frank Eno 
secretary, and John A. Thompson treasurer. The Academy was incorpo- 
rated in 1874. 

The Academy opened May 8, 1879, Rev. Abraham Mattice, A. M., prin- 
cipal. He was frbm Fort Plain, Montgomery County, N. Y., where for 
several years he had been principal of Fort Plain seminary. He brought 
about twenty pupils with him. The Academy opened with about fifty pu- 
pils, and numbered fifty-eight; before the end of May. It was a school for 
ladies and gentlemen, and Mrs. Smeallie was preceptress. The graduating 
exercises for this year were held in the Methodist church on the first and 
second of July, 1879. The graduates were Vedder Yates, Harry B. Conk- 
ling, H. Judd Ward, Helen A. Thorne, Louise C. Garner, Lettie B. Letson, 
Margaret V. D. See and Anna B. VanDeusen, eight in all. The church was 
crowded and the exercises were very interesting, new in their nature, to 
the people of Pine Plains. In 1880 there was one graduate, in '81 four, 
in '82 seven, in '83 six, in '84 three, in '85 seven, in '86 eight, in '87 six,. 
in '88 three, in '89 ten, in '90 two, in '91 five, in '93 eight, '94 none, '95 four. 
Down to May, 1896, six of the graduates have deceased, six are clergymen, 
six are physicians, and three are lawyers. Total number of pupils 1002, an 
average of fifty- nine a year. The largest number of pupils was during 
1881-2, and '94. It has given instruction to a large number in music, hav- 
ing some years forty music pupils and keeping five pianos in use. Twenty- 
five or more have been prepared for college. From the first it has turned 
out many successful teachers. With such a record its influence as an ed- 
ucator has been and is far reaching and incalculable. It continued until 
March 1, 1896, seventeen years, Mr. Mattice being the only principal. The 
grading and progression to a higher standard in our union free schools has 
done away with the old time academy. But few now exist, and these are 



SEYMOUR SMITH ACADEMY AND UNION FREE SCHOOL 265. 

in the nature of a select school, and even these few are becoming less an- 
nually. The building being closed as an academy, it was placed by the 
trustees under charge of the state board of regents. The Pine Plains Un- 
ion Free School was organized in March, 1896, and an Academic Depart- 
ment established in June of that year, the whole being under a board of 
education constituted of Frank Eno, William Bostwick and Leander J. 
Wilbur. Frank Eno Secretary, J. Huntting Bostwick treasurer, Richard 
T. Hoctor truant officer, J. H. Forrester principal. In April, 1896, they 
leased the Academy building and opened the Union Free School. They 
made some internal repairs to the building, and gave it otherwise a thor- 
ough renovation. "The school rooms are well lighted and ventilated, 
and are heated by the most modern steam plant obtainable," they say in 
the first circular of the "Pine Plains Union Free School." Prof. Forrester 
and family reside in the building where there are ample and convenient 
accommodations. The following synopsis in part from the circular gives 
the status of its management. Fall term commences September 1st, 
1896. It has a neatly furnished library comprising the best selections of 
standard authors, and in addition the pupils have free access to the town 
library of about two thousand volumes. Non-resident pupils can obtain 
good board at reasonable rates. Pupils driving to the school will be pro- 
vided with stabling accommodations free of charge, and a rack for bicycles 
is also provided. Pupils residing in the district receive instruction free. 
Residents outside the district pay a fee of three dollars for fall and spring 
terms respectively, each three months in length, and four dollars for the 
winter term of four months. Pupils outside the town pay six dollars for 
fall and spring terms each and eight dollars for winter term. All school fees 
for pupils outside the district payable in advance. This embodies substan- 
tially the management of the Pine Plains union free school at its organiza- 
tion in 1896. 



<*^*^ 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

DISTRICT SCHOOL. 

To go back from the graded school of to-day to the old district school 
a hundred years ago, and note the changes in the between time, would be 
very near an impossibility, and at best of tedious interest. Some old doc- 
uments, however, relative to district schools in North East, having the es- 
sence of truth, are too good to be lost. These pertain to "North East," and 
it must be borne in mind that previous to 1818 North East embraced 
the territory of the now north part of North East, Pine Plains and Milan, 
and at that time " North East" and "Little Nine Partners'* were the same 
in territory. 

April 9, 1795, the legislature passed "An act for the encouragement of 
schools," — amended in '96 and '97 — which is the first year any reports were 
filed with the town clerk, or are found among the town papers. Presum- 
ably the filing of reports originated by a provision in this act. By it, 
among other things, the amount of the school fund " distributed " or as- 
signed to the county was apportioned by the supervisors to the several dis- 
tricts, pro rata according to attendance. The teachers reported to the 
trustees, the trustees to the commissioners of schools, and the commission- 
ers to the treasurer of the county, with an order to pay the trustees of the 
respective districts There had been no commissioners of schools previous 
to this act of 1795 and none were elected at the spring election, as the act 
was passed too late for this, but in 1796 John D. Biill, Ebenezer Dibble, 
Josiah Holly and John Fulton were elected to this office, the first commis- 
sioners of common schools in the old town of North East. Commissioners 
of schools were elected in the towns from this time until 1844 when super- 
intendent of schools was voted for, the offices of commissioner and inspector 
of schools having been abolished. Moses Conger was elected the first 
superintendent of schoo!s in now Pine Plains. 

Under the above act, in 1795, two thousand and two hundred pounds 
school fund was "distributed" to the County of Duchess — Putnam was 
then part of Duchess— and in the apportionment to the towns by the super- 
visor May 30, 1795, North East had 154 pounds, one shilling. Half of that, 
as an additional amount — 77 pounds 6 pence — was raised by tax on the 
town making the amount of school fund 231 pounds, 1 shilling, 6 pence. 
An order for this amount — tne first under the act of 1795 — was drawn May 
31, 1796, on the county treasurer, William Emott, Esq., by Ebenezer Dib- 
blee, John Folic n and John D. Pull. Ike act caused a gocd deal of dis- 
cussion as to its real meaning and intent, but good, bad and mixed, it was 
& new departure in the school system. A school district was called a 




Frank Eno. 
See Lineage. 



THE DISTRICT SCHOOL. 269 

""society," and the seventeen, the number then in Old North East, were 
reorganized to include all the territory in the town, and all the children 
from five to fifteen years old — about five hundred — the legal school age. 
Some districts covered a large territory, and from two to three miles was 
not an uncommon distance to go to school. 

It is scarcely to be doubted, however, that the school master and school 
'house were respectively in existence years before 1795, but the school law 
•of that year made them a matter of public record. Ebenezer Dibblee was 
town clerk of old North East in 1795-G, and was careful and conscientious 
in his clerical duties in all things — including the first school recoi'ds under 
the law of 1795. 

There is not a complete list of school districts or "societies" on file for 
any year from 1795 to 1800, but the data at hand shadow the substance of 
the unseen and unknown of our district schools a hundred years ago. 

Julia M. Eno taught district No. 14 — West Pine Plains or Milan — from 
June 17 to July 16, 1795. Seventy-two scholai's, one pound, 14 shillings, 6 
pence school money, Ephriam Herrick, Richard Wilde, Daniel Bodgley 
trustees. Simon Ter Bush was her successor, commencing August 17 and 
closed '-the quarter of teaching "' Nov. 19, 1795. At the residence of Rev. 
Simon Dakin at Spencer's Corners (near Millerton), August 28, 1795, James 
Winchell, Esq, and Philip Spencer, Jun., were chosen trustees of No. 2, 
and then and there hired Ethel Burch as teacher at three pounds, four 
shillings per month. He commenced September 5th, 1795, closed October 
5, 1795. James Reynolds succeeded, closing the third Tuesday in March, 
1796. David Lyman, Jun,, taught this school — then No. 19, the number of 
school districts having increased — from March 28, 1797 to March 22, 1798, 
for thirty-four dollars. The list is of interest to old families near Spencer's 
Corners. The scholars were above the age of four years. Simon Dakin, 
Jun., sent Ebenezer, Hersey, James, Homer, David, Tolma, Ruth, Hannah 
and Phebe, (all Dakins,) and Sally Northrop. Abraham Hartwell sent 
Niles and Ma.than Hartwell. Jacob Hall sent Jacob, William, Huldah and 
Betsey Hall, Simon Dakin, Sen., sent John Colkin and Greaty Wooden. 
Abraham Hartwell, Jun. , sent Ezra Canfield. James Winchell sent Law- 
rence Briggs. John D. Bull sent Charles Gatta. Benjamin Perry sent 
Love Spencer, Abagail Perry, Parmelia Perry and Samuel Perry. Stephen 
Brown sent Abner and Eliza Brown. Alexander Spencer sent Jemima 
Grove. Duncan McLane sent James Scofield. James Hamblin sent Har- 
rnan Hamblin. Simon Dakin, Jun., Abraham Hartwell, trustees. Of the 
above children David Dakin and Niles Hartwell were later prominent 
xnen in Pine Plains. 

John Culver — the pioneer preacher? — taught district No. 18, "near 
Joshua Hamblin's in Oblong," from December 18, 1797, to February 28, 
1798 at $9 a month and board. Ephraim Hamblin, Agrippa Martin, trus- 
tees. Oliver Davison taught No. 15 in Amenia from March 21, 1797, to 



270 HISTORY OF TINE PLAINS. 

May 16, 1797. at seven dollars a month. This district was east of Winchell 
Mountain and the Buttolphs and Knapps and Woodwards attended this- 
school. He was succeeded by Sylvanus Holmes who commenced June 7, 
1797, and closed Nov. 7, 1797, at seven dollars a month "and his horse kept." 
He was succeeded by Isaiah Bunce, Jun., who taught from November 20, 
1797, to March 19, 1798, at seven dollars and fifty cents a month. Mr. Bunce, 
Jun., makes this endorsement on his return to Commissioner Culver of 
North East: "Mr Culver, if these returns are not made up right send them 
back and wherein wanting. " Uri Judd, who a little later was a promi- 
nent physician, taught "at the stone school house in the town of Stanford" 
from October 9, 1797, to March 10, 1798, at ten dollars and a half a month, 
and he writes his school "was apprabated by the commissioners of Stan- 
ford." Among the twelve pupils who attended this school from North 
East living in the James Smith and Germond Husted neighborhood, were 
Isabella Husted, Nathan Finch, Charlotte Finch, David Smith, Jacob Hus- 
ted, Silas Husted and Isaac Shumway. This stone school house stood on 
the road a short distance south of the old brick house south of Mr. Isaac 
Carpenter's, known as the Tallmadge Mathison House. The road then 
passed that house southerly to the "Square." It has since been changed 
to where it is now. John McAlpine taught in the Righter-Stickle Pulver 
district, two miles east of Pine Plains, from April 15. 1798, to March 8, 
1799, at ten shillings and a quarter for each scholar and board. The names 
of the patrons, "proprietars, " of the school and number of days sent are 
given, but not the names of the children. In addition to the above named 
patrons were Knickerbacker, Peter Husted. William Rector, Sen., John 
Harris and Hugh Gamble. The number of days of Peter Husted's children 
was 690, nearly 200 more than any other proprietor. Ira Sawyer taught 
district No. 11. 'near George Sheldon's (George Sheldon lived where now 
lives Sydney Smith, Charles Case neighborhood) from November 28, 1798, 
to March 22, 1799. Charles Hoag sent Anny Hoag and Betsey Shewett; 
Job Corbin sent Peter Corbin ; George Sheldon sent Seneca, Andrus, Mor- 
ris and George Sheldon, Jun. ; John Harms sent Rachel, Hannah, Lois, 
Betsey, James and Israel Harris; Hontice Smith sent Andrew Smith; Pol- 
ly Smith sent Harry Smith; Friend Sheldon sent Benjamin and Isaac Shel- 
don; Abner Case sent James, Nancy and Phebe Case; Anthony Briggs 
sent Jeremiah and James Briggs ; Isaiah Dibble sent Gustavus and Harriet 
Dibble; Ira Winans sent James and Walter Winans; Jonathan Case sent 
Jeremiah Wilson and Amy Case; Nathan Sheldon sent Betsey and Tenty 
Sheldon. Charles Hoag and Job Corbin Trustees. Noah Peck taught 
No. 9 — now Mulford Wheeler neighborhood — from March 11 to June 10, 
1799, at eight dollars a month, and another term from June 17 to Septem- 
ber 16, 1799, at same price. He then went to the Andrus Rowe Corners — 
then in Amenia— and taught from December 16, 1799, to March 15, 1800, 
at six dollars a month. Jesse Brush taught No, 2 — Milan — from Sept. 15, 



* 








MS ^x\ , 


III 




r 


fffWrf 




• « 


_! 



William Eno. 

[See Lineage.] 



'272 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

1795, to March 15. 1796, at 4 pounds a month and board. Forty one schol- 
ars, including 8 named Stewart, 5 Thorne, 5 Mead and 1 Elizabeth Bone- 
steel. The next year Henry I. Stewart taught this school from April 4, 
1797, to March 23, 1798, at the rate of one hundred and seventy-nine dol- 
lars a year and board. Among his scholars were Hannah, Semantha, 
Richard T., Sarah, John and Betsey Mead; John, William, Peggy, Catha- 
rine, James, Andrew and Richard Stewart ; nine Cookinghams and others. 
Aaron E. Winchell, one of the early merchants in Pine Plains, and con- 
nected with its early development, taught No. 4, on Winchell Mouutain, 
at the George Winchell place, from July 2, 1795, to October 9, 1795, at six 
dollars a month. He taught a term succeeding of six months commencing 
October 12, 1795, at eight dollars a month. Two scholars in this term had 
an exceptionally large attendance, Lydia Lawrence 127 days, and her sis- 
ter Lorinda 117 days. Lydia and her "Instructor" not many years later, 
were respectively wife and husband. Mr. Winchell went from this school 
to the "Town of Livingston." Columbia County, and taught from Novem- 
ber 21, 1797, at $10 a month. At the expiration of this term he was re- 
engaged for a year at eleven dollars a month* commencing April 25, 1797. 

Samuel Goodwin taught No, 4 — "the school near Benjamin Hicks' on 
the road leading from Cold Spring to Hoffman's — from July 2, 1795 to Mar. 
10, 1796. Forty-eight scholars, 3,641 school days attendance, school money 
25 pounds 11 pence. Laban Crandle, Noah Shaw, trustees. This was the 
largest attendance at any school in old North East during the school year 
from April 1795 to April 1796. Ten scholars surnamed Hicks attended this 
school, nearly one-fifth of the total attendance. The school house was on 
the corners near the residence of the late Samuel I. Hicks, a son of Benja- 
min I. Hicks, and the school house there now is probably on or near the 
site of the old one. Isaac Jackson taught No. 7, in the neighborhood of 
Ira Winans from November 18, 1799 to February 25, 1800, at the rate of 5 
dollars per month and his board and his horse kept on hay. " 

[Note — This was the now Frank Eno district and Ira Winans lived in 
a house near the site of his farm house to the west, It is believed the 
school house then stood on or near the site of the present one, but the deed 
to the school lot was not made until February 22, 1823, when the convey- 
ance was made by Andreas Hoysradt to Matthias Hoffman, Fyler Dibblee 
and David Winans trustees. From 1795 to 1820 and later it is doubtful if 
there was any deed for a school house outside of a village or city, They 
were located for convenience and built by a permit from the land owner.] 

Ira Winans sent Charlotte, Clarey, Mercy, Semantha, (all Winans,) Na- 
thaniel Stevenson sent William, Salmon, Sophia and Joshua, (all Steven- 
sons,) and Abraham Winans. Friend Sheldon sent Isaac, Job, Benjamin, 
Charlotte and Fanny. The year previous Friend Sheldon had sent Benja- 
min and Isaac to district No. 11 in the Charles Case neighborhood. 

In 1813 the following persons in Stanford were set off to school district 
No. 8, in Northeast, the school house near now Sheldon Strever's: Nancy 



THE DISTRICT SCHOOL. 273 

Smith farm, Jesse Thompson, Jesse P. Thompson, James Holmes, Gurdon 
Miller, Philo Wells, Mary Sheldon, Philip Rowe. Isaac Huntting, John 
Tripp, Anthony Tripp, James Husted and Daniel Lewis. 

The first school house in Pine Plains of which we have any record was 
in 1795, the district being "No. 1." It was then "North East," and the 
school districts were placed on record under the law of 1795. The school 
house was on the west side of North Street, nearly opposite the now resi- 
dence of Philip Piester. Later the school building was moved to the cor- 
ners north of the now Stissing House, and used as a store for many years. 
In recent years it has been used as a dwelling until 1895, when it was taken 
down and the Bowman opera house built on the site. It was on the George 
Clark land, and a lease could be obtained only for its site. Probably this 
caused the trustees to purchase a school lot elsewhere, and theref ore bought 
about an acre east of the now Presbyterian church of the heirs of Peter 
Husted. Previous to this purchase Abraham Hiserodt had in some way 
obtained a small interest to this tract, and April 7, 1824, this interest was 
purchased for $4. 00 quit claim from John W. Melius and Christina his 
wife — to whom it had descended — by Aaron E. Winched, Justus Boothe, 
and Joshua Culver, trustees. The district was then "No. 11." The bounds 
of the school lot then were, "South by the highway, on the west by the 
Meeting House lot and land of the heirs of Peter Husted, deceased, on the 
north and east by land of Reuben W. Bostwiek, containing about an acre. " 
This seems to have perfected the title to the school lot. The school house 
stood very nearly on the site of the now residence of Mrs. Morgan. 

The first teacher in the old school house of which there is a record, was 
William Hermans in 1795-6. The total attendance of days during his 
term — probably a year — was 2,548. The school money was 17 pounds 10 
shillings and 7 pence. The district then was "No. 1," and Cornelius C. 
Elmendorph, who then kept a hotel on the site of the now Stissing House, 
was trustee. Passing four years, Benjamin Prime was a teacher here from 
May 6 to August 7, 1799. He calls it the "Pine Plains district at the school 
house near Ebenezer Baldwin's." (Ebenezer Baldwin had this year suc- 
ceeded Mr. Elmendorph at the hotel. ) The scholars were Caty, Richard, 
Harriet, Eliza, Sally and Maria Dibblee ; Barjona Deuel, Caty Turk, Ara- 
bella Thomas, Theodoras, William and Louisa Bassett; Jesse P. and Maria 
Thompson; Benjamin and Peter Snyder ; Orra Ferguson; Jane, John and 
Betsey Van Ranst; Polly Martin, Sarah Boice, Clara, Lucretia and Cynthia 
Benjamin; Henry, Frederick and Aminta Baldwin; Walter, Amy, Mor- 
ris and Tamma Barlow; Catharine and Phebe Wilson; Henry Hiserodt; 
Lilly, negro girl. Total number of days l,765i. Jesse Thompson and Eb- 
enezer Dibblee trustees. 

Samuel Sexton succeeded Mr. Prime the next term of this school and 
taught from September 25, 1799 to March 15, 1800. This was a winter 
term, and the pupils were Jesce P. and Maria Thompson, Harriet, Eliza, 



274 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Maria, Edward, Richard, Caty and Sally Dibblee, Maria Graham; Eliza, 
Jane and John Van Ranst ; James Pugsley ; Theodoras and William Bas- 
sett; Nancy Lovitt: Catharine and Phebe Wilson; Frederick, Isaac, Hen- 
ry and Aminta Baldwin ; John Smith, Benjamin and Joseph Carpenter ; 
Amy, Tamma, Stephen, Moses, Morris and Walter Barlow; Walter and 
Arabella Thomas, Matthias Wilber ; Seymour and Amos Benjamin ; Polly 
Strevel; Henry Houseradt; Orra Ferguson; Jonathan, Samuel, Israel and 
William Britian ; Lill a negro girl, Cephas a negro boy. Ebenezer Dibblee 
and Jesse Thompson, trustees. Mr. Prime had thirty-six scholars, Mr, 
Sexton forty-seven, and Henry Hiserodt and Jesse P. Thompson are two 
only of these pupils who have descendants now in the town. 

This ends the series of district school dots from 1795 to 1800. Perhaps 
enough. Methods of teaching and prices paid have greatly changed in a 
hundred years. The then and now in this regard is interesting when com- 
pared. From another standpoint these scholars' names well nigh give us 
pause. Could all the names be published, a few living might recognize 
grandmothers and great grandfathers and great uncles, and so on in the 
branches of the family tree from root to top. And quite singular, yet true, 
a few others would be surprised when told "she was your grandmother," 
and "he your great grandfather," they having forgotten, if indeed they ever 
knew,*who were their ancestors two generations back. More however will 
say, what matter, nothing can be added to nor taken away, the unchange- 
able cannot be changed. True, but could the little dust these names rep- 
resent, be reanimated and invested with "thought bodiless" as 'tis said it 
will be, it may be of some matter that there was to them at least, time, 
place and existence, and something to do, as well as now the same unto the 
living. 




CHAPTER XXVIII. 

PINE PLAINS BANK. 

The first meeting for the organization of the Pine Plains Bank was 
held at the hotel of Henry C. Myers — now Stissing House — Feb. 15, 1839. 
Aaron E. Winchell was chairman and Frederick I. Curtis secretary. At 
this meeting it was resolved that A. E. Winchell, R. W. Bostwick, Backus 
Culver, Justus Boothe and Cornelius Husted be a committee to report the 
number and names of the directors. They reported seventeen : Aaron E. 
Winchell, Reuben W. Bostwick, Walter Reynolds, Justus Boothe, Backus 
Culver, Cornelius Husted, Frederick I. Curtis, George W. Barton, Henry 
Hoffman, John Ferris, William W. Pulver, Abraham Dibble, William 
Winchell, Samuel Deuel, Niles Hartwell, William Eno, Leonard Rowe. 
The next meeting was held Feb. 21, 1839, when Walter Reynolds, William 
Eno and Reuben W. Bostwiok were chosen a committee to draft articles of 
Association for the proposed Bank and A. E. Winchell, S. Deuel, J. Fer- 
ris, C. Husted, A. Dibble and B. Culver were chosen a committee to find a 
site for the banking house. The next meeting was at the same place on 
March 9, 1839, when articles of association were presented and adopted. 
There were thirteen articles, and sections under each, to which were after- 
ward added articles fourteen and fifteen as amendments, to all of which 
the stockholders' names and amount of stock of each were subscribed by 
proxy. The next meeting was held at the same place March 16, 1839, when 
it was resolved to rent a building, and in case this could not be done, to 
purchase a site and build. At this meeting Reuben W. Bostwick was chos- 
en president William Eno Vice President and Walter Reynolds attorney. 
Frederick W. Davis was chosen cashier at a salary of one thousand dollars 
a year and house rent, to commence April 15, 1839. The next meeting was 
March 23, 1839, when the committee reported and report adopted. The 
building chosen was owned by Mr. Emmott Woodin, and is now the west 
part of the store of Mr. Isaiah Dibble. 

The Bank had a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, divided into 
one thousand shares of one hundred dollars each. The certificates were 
handsomely engraved and read : 

"The Pine Plains Bank. 

' ' This is to certify that is entitled to Shares in the Capi- 
tal Stock of the Pine Plains Bank of one hundred dollars each. Transfer- 
able by or attorney on the Books of the Bank in Pine Plains, 

State of New York, upon the Surrender of this Certificate dated this 

day of 18—." 

April 9, 1839, certificates were issued calling for their respective shares 



276 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Reuben W. Bostwick 50 shares, Henry Sheldon 50, Leonard Eowe 10, Wil- 
liam Eno 10, Aaron E. Winchell 40, Isaac S. Smith 10, Philo W. Winchell 
20, Jacob S. Best 20, John Ferris 60, Samuel Deuel 50, Jacob I. H. Davis 15, 
"William W. Pulver 50, John Silvernail, Jr., 10, Henry W. Brownell 10, 
Lewis D. Hedges 20, George W. Barton 40, Henry I. Hiserodt 10, Joseph 
Halstead 10, Elias Reynolds 10, Cyrus Burnap 10, Abraham Dibble 30, 
Backus Culver 40, John Hoag 10, Silas Harris 40, Frederick I. Curtis 10, 
Adam and Benjamin Strever 20, Niles Hartwell 10, John W. Righter 20, 
Cornelius Husted 40, Henry Hoffman 60, Martin Lawrence 10, William H. 
Bostwick 20, Henry Strever 10, Daniel D. Griffin 10, Henry C. Myers 40, 
Edward Huntting 10, Newton Deuel 5, Justus Boothe 30, Emott Wooden 
10, George W. Barton, May 22, '39, 10, Hiram Wilson, April 8, '39, 30, 
Hiram Wilson, March 6, 1840. 15, Walter Reynolds, March 6, 1840, 15. 
Total 1,000 shares. 

At a bank meeting held May 14, 1839, bonds and mortgages to the 
amount of $26,200 were assigned by R. W. Bostwick, the president, to the 
comptroller as security for circulation, which was the final act to place the 
bank on a business footing. Weekly meetings of the board were held du- 
ring the year for 'ordinary business." The New York business of the 
bank was done through Henry Sheldon & Co., then a dry goods firm on 
Broadway in the vicinity of Wall Street. The minutes of a bank meeting 
held Thursday, Oct. 24, 1839, say: "Henry Sheldon & Co. offered Tho. 
Bloodgood's note dated Oct. 16, at six months for $10,000, and a power of 
attorney to transfer his stock in this association as collateral security for 
the funds this Bank may from time to time have in their hands." This of- 
fer was satisfactory to the bank. If the bank account against this firm 
was overdrawn, the drafts were honored, but to put its standing and integ- 
rity beyond reproach the bank, Nov. 14, 1839, sent to Henry Sheldon & 
Co., its note six months for $10,000 payable at the City Bank as 
security against loss. This note Henry Sheldon & Co. declined to receive 
and returned, a high compliment to the financial standing of the bank. 
The first semiannual dividend of four per cent, was declared January 9, 
1840. In 1843 Aaron E. Winchell was chosen vice president, Mr. Bost- 
wick still being the president. William Eno was appointed attorney for 
the bank Jan 11, 1844. 

R. W. Bostwick and Aaron E. Winchell were respectively president 
and vice president in 1844, '45, '46, '47, '48. August 19, 1847, at a bank 
meeting John F. Hull was chosen cashier, F. W. Davis having resigned to 
accept a position in a Poughkeepsie bank. Mr. Hull commenced August 
26, 1847. In 1849 Justus Boothe was chosen vice-president, Mr. Bostwick 
pi-esident. The same in '50, '51, '52. Mr. Hull gave notice to the officers, 
in March, 1852, of his leaving the bank the following May, whereupon, 
April 3, 1852, Reuben Bostwick, son of R. W. Bostw T ick, was chosen teller. 
May 4, 1852, John F. Hull resigned as cashier, and Reuben Bostwick was- 




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LU 

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278 " HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

chosen as his successor "at a salary of $700 for the first year." Mr. Hull 
had received a thousand annually during his term from '47 to '52. R. W. 
Bostwick, Justus Booth and Reuben Bostwick were respectively president, 
vice-president and cashier in '52, '53, '54, '55, '5(3 and '57, when the bank 
closed its business, the last meeting being held Sept. 30, 1857. R. W. Bost- 
wick was its only president from 1839 to 1857. 

The bank wound up in 1857 voluntarily. It was a trying year to 
financial institutions, but the Pine Plains Bank maintained its honor and 
good name to the last. The forty three original stockholders, the presi- 
dent, vice-presidents and its cashiers have passed away, John F. Hull, a 
cashier, living until this year (1898), being the last survivor of the list. 



STISSING BANK. 

Twenty-one articles of association were drawn and subscribed to May 
29, 1858, for the organization of Stissing Bank. The capital stock was to- 
be one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, divided into twelve hundred 
shares of one hundred dollars each. The stock subscribers were John A. 
Thompson 80 shares, Justus Boothe 120, P. W. Husted 20, C. Henry Hus- 
ted 20, Cornelius Husted 10, R. W. Bostwick 100, Levi Best 80, — L. Best 
20, Wm. S. Eno 80, Cyrus Burnap 20, L. D. Hedges 40, John Rowe 40, Wil- 
liam A. Rowe 20, Walter W. Husted 20, John Ferris 100, Silas Harris 40, 
Jonas Knickerbocker 40, John Righter 80, Phenix N. Deuel 20, Ury Hicks- 
40, Samuel Deuel 60, Joel Winans 10, Frederick T. Ham 20, Zachariah Wil- 
bur 40, Henry H. Ham 20, George W. Barton 20, Wm. N. Sayre 20, Dudley 
G. Culver 20. 

The first board of directors were Justus Boothe, Lewis D. Hedges, John 
Rowe, John A. Thompson, Wm. S. Eno, Zachariah Wilbur, John Righter, 
Levi Best and John Ferris, Justus Boothe being president of the board and 
president of the bank, and Reuben Bostwick cashier. There was no vice- 
president of the Stissing Bank. In June, 1858, the lot on which the bank 
building now stands was purchased of Ezia Pells, and in the same year the 
building was completed, to which later an addition was built on the north 
as now. Mr. Boothe was President in '58, '59, '60, '61, '62, '63, when de- 
clining are-election in 1834, Mr. William S. Eno was elected to this office, 
Mr. Reuben Bostwick being meantime the cashier including the year 1864. 
In the spring of 1865 it was changed to a National Bank and called 

STISSIKG NATIONAL BANK. 

The capital stock was then reduced to $80,000, with shares of $75 each, 
William S. Eno was the first president and Reuben Bostwick cashier, (no 
vice-president.) Mr. Bostwick was cashier continuously until his decease 



THE BANKS. 279 

in 1870, when his son Fred Bostwick was unanimously appointed cashier 
as his successor. The following resolution in regard to the decease of Reu- 
ben Bostwick was passed by the directors July 1st, 1870: 

"Resolved, That we mourn the loss of our valuable and highly re- 
spected friend and fellow citizen, and duly appeciate his valuable services 
as cashier of the bank in which he has served since its organization to the 
satisfaction of all concerned. We consider the death of Mr. Bostwick a 
severe loss to the community, and especially to his immediate neighbor- 
hood, where he was universally beloved and respected. His decease is an 
irreparable loss to his family of an affectionate husband and a kind and be- 
loved father, and his bereaved family have our warmest sympathy in their 
affliction. " 

In 1871 Walter W. Husted was chosen vice president, the first in this 
office since its change to a national bank. Mr. Husted was elected annually 
until 1877, when he resigned, and Rev. William N. Sayre was elected his 
successor and held that office continuously until his decease Nov. 26, 1896. 
Mr. Fred Bostwick held the cashiership continuously from his election un- 
til his resignation in 1885, when his brother William was chosen his suc- 
cessor. William S. Eno was president continuously from the organization 
of the bank until 1895, when he removed to Philadelphia. In January, 
1896, William Bostwick, the cashier from 1885, was chosen president as 
his successor, and John Huntting Bostwick was chosen cashier in his place. 
The officers now, (Dec. 1, 1896,) are William Bostwick president, and J. 
H. Bostwick, cashier. 




Reuben Bostwick. 

[See Lineage.] 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

EVERGREEN CEMETERY. 

The first burial ground in Pine Plains village contained about an acre, 
now in the southwest corner of the present cemetery. It is said to have 
been purchased of the heirs of Peter Husted in 1820, by the trustees of the 
Union Meeting House property — now Presbyterian church — was laid out 
in lots which were numbered, and the trustees of said society gave the 
deeds. Some of these deeds are in existence. 

There are two traditions in regard to the first burial in this cemetery. 
One is that Phebe Culver, daughter of Joshua and Lavinia Culver, who 
deceased November 29, 1820, was the first burial. The other tradition is, 
that Sally Dibblee, daughter of Ebenezer and Esther Dibblee, who deceased 
September 10, 1821, was the first burial. As the Culver death was the ear- 
lier, a presumption follows in favor of the Culver burial being the first. 
The first burial by removal is said to have been "Mary," wife of Reuben 
W. Bostwick, who deceased in 1817. and was removed from the cemetery 
at Mount Ross. Many head stones record earlier deaths than the two men- 
tioned, but they are removals. 

Previous to its being used for burial purposes the deceased in this vi- 
cinity were buried at Mount Ross, or Vedder church, or Round Top at 
Bethel, or the Knickerbocker burial grounds or in family burial plots on 
the farms of settlers, the latter being generally used. The interest in the 
family burial grounds has been lost in the "breaking up" of the homestead, 
which under our American laws of divisional inheritance never becomes 
" old " in reality. The American "Old Homestead" is short lived. We 
have yet not nationally legalized primogeniture that the homestead may 
have length of days, but we seem to be drifting that way. 

The old churches of here and there have disappeared and their respect- 
ive burial grounds are left, sentiments of the past, undisturbed, silent and 
motionless, except by the tramping of an occasional jackal genealogist, 
who believes in the personal resurrection of his ancestor and he is using 
the means to accomplish it. 

In May, 1852, Mr. William S. Eno purchased from Dr. Cornelius Aller- 
ton the tract of land north of Church street, excepting what had been pre- 
viously sold for church and building lots on this street, and to and adjoin- 
ing North street, the south boundary of this purchase on this street com- 
mencing at the north side of the old Winchell and Hartwell store lot now 
owned by Charles Morgan, thence running north on the street to what is 
now known as the Wilson lot adjoining the cemetery on the north. This 
was the Peter Husted tract and subsequently came to his heirs, Mrs. Doc- 



282 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

tor Allerton being one of them. It included in its boundaries the old cem- 
etery which was reserved and excepted in the deed. Soon after this pur- 
chase Mr. Eno laid out the south part of it into streets and blocks, on one 
of which he erected his residence. He laid out two streets, one running 
east from North street in front of his present residence called Elm street, 
and one north from Church street now Pine street, the two streets inter- 
secting at right angles as now. Neat village residences have been built 
on Pine street, making it an attractive and desirable location. The part of 
this purchase north of the north boundary of the William S. Eno residence 
he laid out in plots and driveways for cemetery purposes, as an addi- 
tion to the old cemetery. Three parallel driveways, as entrances from 
North street, extending to the east limit of this addition, were made 
and all the intermediate ground was devoted to alleys and burial 
plots. The north and south driveways were the respective north and 
south .bounds of this addition. The system used in the new addi- 
tion was applied to the old yard so far as practicable without tres- 
pass on burials, to make it harmonize with the newly laid out grounds. 
Mr. Eno set pine trees on the borders of the driveways, and in other 
ways improved the grounds, which now make an appropriate cover- 
ing for the graves beneath them, and makes the name "Evergreen 
Cemetery " appropriate. Plots were rapidly taken and in a few years all 
were disposed of. Mr. Eno then laid out cemetery lots in the remainder 
of his original purchase, adjoining this addition on the north, as a second 
addition. In the sale of cemetery lots down to about this time no provis- 
ion had been made to keep the cemetery grounds in order. The lots sold 
were neglected by the owners, and the driveways were becoming foul with 
weeds. To remedy this a fund was raised by subscription from the re- 
spective lot owners as an immediate available fund, coupled by an agree- 
ment to pay an annual installment of two dollars on every lot in future as 
a perpetual cemetery improvement fund. Three trustees were appointed to 
receive and disburse the funds and to have the general management of the 
cemetery. Parties, however, who wish to provide for the care of their re- 
spective lots in future may do so by paying fifty or one hundred dollars 
and be released from annual payments. This is a wise thing to do in nearly 
all cases. It has never been incorporated, but under this arrangement 
the cemetery is well cared for. About 1890 Mr. Eno purchased a tract of 
land adjoining the cemetery grounds on the east from the late Arba Piatt 
which he has laid out into burial plots, making the third addition to the 
original burial ground of one acre. As a whole it is now the finest ceme- 
tery in grounds and location in Duchess county. The grounds contain 
fourteen acres. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

WOOL CARDING AND FULLING MILLS. 

MOUNT ROSS. 

Mount Ross received its name from an early resident, Capt. Thomas Ross, 
called " Baron Ross," who deceased there in August, 1762. He was buried 
on the mount opposite the present residence (across the road) of Jacob 
Hinsdale, and on his grave rests a heavy slab placed horizontally. The in- 
scription is almost defaced by exposure. As I read it Oct. 20, 1895, it is, 

«' Here lies all that is left of Capt. Thomas Ross who died August , 1762, 

in the seventy-second year of his age." Mrs. Smith, who has lived in the 
house opposite (Hinsdale house) many years, gave the inscription "Here 
lies the body of Capt. Thomas Ross," and as above. 

When Baron Ross settled there and from whence he came I have not 
been able to learn. Isaiah Ross, supposed to be a son or brother, was there 
in the spring of 1743, and assisted Charles Clinton in running the north 
boundary line of the Little Nine Partners Patent, which adjoined the Liv- 
ingston Patent. He was an assignee of Roger Mompesson, one of the Lit- 
tle Nine Partners. 

The splendid water power at this place on the Roloef Jansen made it a 
desirable point in early times. Saw mills, and grist and fulling mills were 
erected there, probably during the lifetime of Baron Ross, but whether or 
not he had any pecuniary or personal interest in them is unknown to me. 
No record of such industries there as early as his death have appeared. 
Later, about the time of the Revolution, mills were built, and a little later 
Anthony M. Hoffman owned the property. 

Old account books are the essence of brevity in historical data The 
thing done and who did it is the "touch the button " part and you must 
do the rest. Thus an old account book photographs some business in 
Mount Ross, and when it was done. 

In September, 1788, Matthew Winter, who then manufactured woolen, 
cloth there, sued William Slater for weaving forty-four yards of cloth at 
8 pence a yard. True, only three dollars and sixty -seven cents, but he 
wanted the money all the same for sending that shuttle through the loom 
day after day. Winter was a cloth dresser there for many years subse- 
quent to 1788. In 1800 Valentine Wightman, or Whitman, was in posses- 
sion of the Mount Ross mills, (he may have been previous to this,) and kept. 
a store. The first entry in an old account book of his July 24, 1800, is 
" Gideon Jenkins, Dr. to one pair of shoes, 10 shillings." Besides being a. 
merchant Wightman had the distinction of being a town officer, for, at 
divers and sundry times he served a summons, a venire and a warrant in 



"284 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

1800 and 1801, which he was faithful to record. These were halcyon days 
for pettifoggers and justices, and also for tavern keepers who sold N. E. 
(New England) rum for three cents a drink. Law suits were a sort of 
poker game, the chips being the cost. 

In May, 1802, Henry Bentley became a partner with Valentine Wight- 
man — as he wrote it — in the purchase of the Mount Ross mills from An- 
thony Hoffman The grist and saw mills which had been there for years 
were thoroughly repaired, and these mills did quite an extensive business. 
Mount Ross was a busy hamlet. Other industries centered there, black- 
smiths, shoemakers, and a cooper shop. The store was a log building, one 
and a half story. 

In the fulling mill Samuel Nash was cloth dresser. He came there in 
1802, and had much to do in this line. Farmers wore home-made clothing. 
Of the men who had cloth made there then were Benjamin Hicks, Joseph 
Hicks, Philip Knickerbocker, David Winans, Jonathan Case, James Stev- 
enson, Benjamin R. BostwicK, Henry Hoffman, Job Corbin, Edward Thom- 
as — all men of prominence in this vicinity. Others came from a greater 
distance. Nash was cloth dresser there until 1806. He was succeeded by 
Edward Hart who was there two years, meantime doing a large business. 
[Note. — This increased business was greatly caused by the introduction at 
this time (1806) of wool carding and fulling machines into this vicinity by 
Lewis and Isaac Dibblee, who purchased two sets from an uncle of theirs 
— Abraham Dibblee — living at Vergennes, Vt. One set was put into this 
Mount Ross mill — Bentley and "Whitman subsequently bought it— the other 
set was put into a mill on the outlet of - " Thompson's Pond " in Stanford. 
Isaac Dibble attended this machine about a year. There was great rejoic- 
ing at the introduction of these machines, as wool had been formerly card- 
ed and prepared by hand. These mills turned out the "spinning rolls."] 
People came to this Mount Ross mill ten and fifteen miles to have cloth 
made. 

Hart was succeeded in 1808 by Sanford and Macy, and still the business 
increased. This was a year of remarkable activity in this line. Elisha 
Beardsley was cloth dresser in 1810, and in 1811 Edward Hart was again at 
carding and cloth dressing as Beardsley 's successor. In the cloth ac- 
counts are residents of Stanford, Clinton, Amenia and what is now North 
East, these mills being in North East as it was then. 

During these years, from 1802 to 1810, Stephen Carrol blacksmithed a 
portion of the time, and Isaac Parsons, a cooper, made barrels and hooped 
casks, and one Billings and one Delemater were each merchants. In 1809 
or, 10, Bentley and Wightman sold the Mount Ross plant to Samuel Wil- 
bur and Elias, who, as principals or leasors, continued the business until 
1820 or '21, when the mills were sold to Henry Hoffman and Jeremiah 
■Conklin. Mr. Hoffman had the principal interest, and his son, Henry 
Hoffman, Jr. , carried on the business with Mr. Conklin under the firm 



THE MILLS. 28& 

name of Hoffman & Conklin. This firm dissolved in 1834, Mr. Conklin con- 
tinuing alone. Since then the business has been annually less, until at 
present it has little but a name. Wright & Guernsey was the last firm 
that carried on the business with any show of success. 

CARMAN MILL. 
Another fulling mill contemporaneous with the one mentioned at 
Mount Eoss was at the " Phineas Carman Mill " near the southern border 
of the town. Documentary mention is made of "a grist mill and fulling 
mill" there in 1796, which had been purchased previous to this date by one 
William Van Alstyne, of Kinderhook, "clothier," of Piatt Smith, Esq. 
This is the mill mentioned in the " gore " ti - ouble on pages 34 and 35, which 
Augustine Graham contested for with great tenacity but without success,. 
but no mention is made of a fulling mill there then. It was then in Ame- 
nia, now in Northeast, near the town line between Pine Plains and North 
East. This fulling mill remained in connection with the grist mill from 
1796 to 1807, as seen by this notice in the Political Barometer of Pough- 
keepsie : 

Mill For Sale. — The subscriber offers for sale his mills situate in 
Amenia town four miles north from the Federal Store. The neighborhood 
consists of wealthy farmers, and the surrounding country very productive 
of wheat. The machinery of the grist mill and fulling mills are in tolera- 
ble good order, and the stream which supplies it very durable. There is. 
adjoining fourteen acres of good wood land, and a comfortable dwelling 
house, garden, &c. The terms of payment will be made easy. A good ti- 
tle and possession given immediately by applying to the subscriber living 
near the premises. 

Amenia, May 4, 1807. Matthias Row." 

No later date has come to me of the existence of this fulling mill. 
After the introduction of new machinery for wool carding about 1806 and 
converting it into "spinning rolls," small mills for that special purpose 
were built, the necessary expense being of small amount. About 1830, or 
perhaps earlier, one was built adjoining the highway between the Samuel 
Deuel farm and the now residence of Isaac Hallock in the south part of 
Pine Plains. A race was cut adjoining the highway to intersect the Shac- 
omeco nearly opposite the Hallock residence, and the water for the power 
taken from thence to the mill. Peter Merrirield made rolls there in the 30's. 
The present tenant house is on the site of his residence, but the mill was 
taken down years ago. Another carding mill in that neighborhood was 
built on the Abraham Dibble farm, now Samuel Tanner, near the line be- 
tween Mr. Tanner and the Charles Hoag farm, now Henry Keefer. The 
road leading to this mill — laid out in 1805 — started at the now iron bridge 
at Phenix Deuel's, running north along the west line of Mr. Deuel to 
where the stream intersects his line, thence across the stream west to the 
mill. A dam was built at the bend of the Shacameco west of the now iron 
bridge, and a race cut along the bank northerly to the fulling mill. 



'286 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

It is said Isaiah Dibble built the mill about 1815. Cloth dressing was 
done there in 1820 and later by Jonathan Young. He was succeeded by 
Cornelius W. Turner, who had formerly worked for Young. Turner was 
in charge of the mill in 1826 and had a good patronage in wool carding and 
cloth dressing. He remained there until about 1837, and was its last oc- 
cupant. The mill was soon after taken down by Abraham Dibble, son of 
Isaiah, who had become owner of the farm and factory. The dwelling re- 
mained a few years later when it was removed. A few depressions in the 
earth mark the place of this once profitable industry. 

Another carding mill of greater notoriety than those mentioned was 
started by a stock company at the north east corner of the Square about 
1812, then in Amenia, now North East. Some years previous to this, in 
the latter part of the last century, a company or association had made this 
point a nucleus for general exchange and merchandising for the vicinity, 
the company making Poughkeepsie its shipping point. It was called the 
"Federal Company " and the store the "Federal Store," the latter giving 
the name to the place by which it has been known for a century. The 
store however ceased as a place of business over fifty years since. The 
company ar association for wool carding and cloth dressing was formed 
about 1812, and known as the "Sackett Company," Samuel Sacket being 
the president or manager. No amount was named as called for at its or- 
ganization, but amounts were put in from time to time, the respective 
parties so investing becoming stockholders. Ths mill closed about 1829, 
when the following persons were among the stockholders: Samuel J. 
Sackett, Henry Hoffman, Niram Sackett, Isaac E. Haviland, George 
Downing, John F. Hull, Daniel Alger, Samuel Hedges, John Gifford, Da 
vid Cash, Isaac Huntting, Samuel Hunting, John Guernsey. The amount 
of stock to the respective subscribers ranged from $150 to $1,500, Isaac E. 
Haviland and George Downing having each $1,500. When the mill started 
in 1812 and '13 Isaac Winteringham was superintendent, and Lawrence 
Smith and Walter Dorchester were two of the workmen. They dressed 
cloth and carded wool into spinning rolls. The mill had a finisher and a 
double roller, and seems to have done a considerable business. "Federal 
Store" was of sufficient importance in 1822 to be put on the mail route 
from Poughkeepsie to Pine Plains via Stanf ordville. 

Contemporaneous with this fulling mill at Federal Store was one at 
the Adams Mills about a mile south of the ' 'Separate, " under an associa- 
tion called the "American Manufacturing Company." In some way this 
fell into the hands of the county sheriff, William Griffin, in 1817, who sold 
the property July 22, 1817, in accordance with his previous notice of June 
U, 1817. in the Dntchess Observer. His notice reads: "American Manu- 
facturing Company, consisting of one lot on which the factory stands, 
bounded west by the highway, south by Roger Sutherland and Turnpike 
Road, east by Elisha Adams, Jr. , north by highway, containing about ten 



THE MILLS. 



287 



acres of land. " Henry Hoffman was the purchaser at this sale, to aid Wal- 
ter Dorchester, cloth dresser, who was, or had been employed at the Fed- 
eral Square fulling mill. Dorchestor was a son-in-law of Mr. Hoffman, 
having married his daughter Eleanor. She deceased here April 19, 1819, 
and was buried at Eound Top cemetery at Bethel. Mr. Dorchester re- 
mained here until 1821, when he went to Mount Ross. In 1827 Mr. Hoff- 
man sold the mill to Lawrence Smith, who it is said brought the finisher 
and double roller from the Federal Square mill and placed it in his mill at 
the Adams place. So it came to pass that the machinery of the Federal 
Store mill went to the mill below the Separate. 




CHAPTER XXXI. 

PULVER'S CORNER. 

This hamlet derives its name from the early settlers of the name. In 
1772 Peter W. PulverandWandelPulverof the "manor of Livingston, Coun- 
ty of Albany," purchased three hundred and fifty acres of Joseph Jesup 
and Joseph Jesup, Jr. , which was the first settlement here of the name. 
It was the original " Uncle Helmus, " a son of Wandel, farm, as it was 
known fifty years ago, and now the residence of Harmon W. Pulver, a son 
of his. Peter Wandel Pulver was the father of Wandel, and the father 
and son purchased the farm jointly. Peter's children were Andreas Wandel, 
John, Catharine, Katriney, Christina and Elizabeth, Elizabeth had been 
married, had children, and deceased previous to 1792, Descendants of 
this Peter Pulver are now living on the ancestral farm in that locality. 

There was "'a lane " at the time of tins purchase leading to the dwell- 
ing — the present dwelling is nearly on the site of the old one— from the 
corner, the main road to Spencer's Corner, now Millerton, going by the 
present Mulford Wheeler residence, which was then a business corner, 
known as the Jonas Myers corner. The road by "Uncle Helmus" was 
made several years later. In the course of events the farm came to Uncle 
Helmus as sole proprietor, and about 1830, through his thrift and enter- 
prise, the "corners" became a business center. A hotel or tavern had 
been built on the site of the present one, the old store at the Jonas Myers 
Corners had been moved there and set on the southeast corner, directly op- 
posite the tavern to the south. Nicholas Holbrook, who moved to North 
East Center — about 1827 successor to Alexander Neeley in merchandising — 
had been a merchant at the old store when it stood at the Myers — now 
Mulford Wheeler — corners, and after it had been moved. John H. Lap- 
ham and " Uncle Helmus" were partners there in 1831 and probably be- 
fore this date. Lapham left soon after and Harry Knickerbocker was his 
successor to his interest in the firm. This store closed soon after this, 
never to run again, for in 1831 Peter Richter built a store on the northwest 
corner — now standing there — and commenced merchandising. The door- 
handle on the front door is a tell tale of the date of its erection. It says 
"P. R. 1831 " and was made by Austin Stocking, father of our late village 
townsman, Reuben Stocking, who was then doing blacksmith work at 
"Pulver's Corners." He made one for the dwelling opposite the store to the 
south built by Capt. Peter B Knickerbocker. It is on the basement door 
stamped "P. B. K." 

Peter Righter, after merchandizing in the new store a short time, sold 
out, moved to Poughkeepsie, returned soon after and went into the store 



pulver's corners 289 

as partner with " Uncle Helmus " not long after. Warden Hiserodt was 
the merchant for a few years. Then Uncle Helmus and Jacob Pulver 
were proprietors and Henry (Purdy) Hiserodt was the manager. Harrison 
Gilbert was a merchant there in 1851. Then followed Harman W. Pulver, 
Fred. Bristol, Ward B. Gray, Silas Rowe, Walter Rowe and Albert Niver, 
James Rossman being his clerk, who was the last merchant to date in the 
Pulver's Corner store. 

The first hotel was built by this Pulver family. Possibly some now 
living remember this old, long, red tavern. Peter W. Pulver, eldest son of 
Wandel, was its first manager or keeper. Later came Jacob Rockefeller, 
then Michael Plass, who was the proprietor of a goat, famous in many end- 
ways. Then came Alvah Buslmell, who later lived on a farm near Hus- 
ted Station, and later moved to the town of Stanford. Soon after this, in 
1837, the old red hotel was taken down and the present hotel erected by 
William W. Pulver, " Uncle Helmus. " Two years previous he had built 
the large farm dwelling, now the home of his son, Harmon W. John 
Humphrey was the boss carpenter of the dwelling, and Tripp Hoag, an 
old resident of Pine Plains village, was the carpenter builder of the hotel. 
John G. Tripp, son of Daniel, was the first man in the new hotel. He 
kept it in 1840, the political campaign year of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," 
and "Matty Van, the used up man. " Each party had a meeting there that 
fall. Four horse teams came to each from all the surroundings. John 
Van Buren, son of Martin Van Buren, was the speaker on one occasion. 
Not long after John G. Tripp deceased there, and was succeeded in the 
hotel by Alexander Hubbard, whose wife was the daughter of Captain Van 
Dusen, of Lime Rock, Conn., and a sister to the wife of John G. Tripp. 
Hubbard was there in 1841, '2 and '3, and was succeeded by Israel Puggs- 
ley, who kept a temperance house. His successor was Elias B. Farring- 
ton, who was there several years, and then came Anthony Pulver, son of 
" Uncle Helmus,'' who remained there until about 1850. It then had sev- 
eral proprietors respectively, perhaps not in the order named : Josiah Bar- 
ton, Peter E. Hull, Grove Rossman, the Rockefeller boys, Edward E. Sim- 
mons and Henry Thompson. Edward E. Simmons returned about 1882, 
subsequently purchased the property, and is the present proprietor and 
manager. 

During these early years from 1830 to 1850 Pulver's corners was a place 
of considerable life and industry. In addition to the merchant, black- 
smith and shoemaker, there was a tailor, John T. Ellison, better known as 
"Tripp" Ellison, who sized the men in .this locality, and improved their 
habits by an expert use of the shears, needle and goose. The industries of 
past years in this hamlet have ceased except the blacksmith and wagon 
repairs of John Wiltsie, who lives there and has a shop for work in this 
line. He bears the name of an early settler in the town limits. A John 
Wiltsie in 1785 was a blacksmith located, it is surmised, at the John Pulver 
place at the creek, now owned by Harmon Pulver. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

LAMP DISTRICT AND WATER WORKS. , 

The Lamp District was organized about 1874, and the first election for 
officers was held at the Stissing Bank, May 5, 1874. Wm. S. Eno, Walter 
W. Husted and Amos Bryan were elected trustees, and Richard Hermans 
collector. The system of lighting the streets then inaugurated has been 
continued from that time and is now (1897) in use, that is by lamps and 
kerosene burners. 

The first meeting of the town board in regard to water works was held 
June 18, 1895. There were present Isaac P. Carman supervisor, Fred Sad- 
ler town clerk, William Saddler, Frank Eno, Samuel T. Hoag and P. N. 
Deuel — four justices. The water district was designated to be the same as 
the lamp district excepting the lands of Albert Bowman and the dwelling 
lots respectively of William H. Scutt, deceased, and Henry Engelke, de- 
ceased. A company was organized and incorporated — John R. Thompson 
and Newton Hebard of Amenia, Fred Eostwick, Wm. Bostwick, Frank 
Eno, J. H. Bostwick and Charles S. Wilber of Fine Plains, directors. 
Fred Bostwick was president, Wm. Bostwick secretary and treasurer, and 
John R. Thompson Superintendent. Capital stock, $10,000. Under this 
organization the main pipes were laid, and the reservoir built in the fall of 
1895. In the spring of 1896 work was resumed, the capital stock increased 
to twelve thousand dollars, plans perfected and the water introduced. 
The first annual election for sven directors of the Pine Plains Water Com- 
pany was held June 1, 1896, when Fred Bostwick, John R, Thompson, 
Wm. Bostwick, L J. Wilbur, Frank Eno, J. H. Bostwick and Walter A. 
Rowe were elected directors. Fred Bostwick was elected president and 
William Bostwick secretary and treasurer. The stock was all taken. John 
R. Thompson, of Amenia, was superintendent of the works until their com- 
pletion, and chiefly instrumental in forming and perfecting the scheme. 




CH AFTER XXXIII. 
STISSING HOUSE. 

Hotels or inns are the outcome of settlements. The cabin of the pio- 
neer is an incipient tavern, and as a rule he is glad to make it such, as en- 
couragement for another pioneer or settler, who in turn keeps the latch 
string out for the next, and so on, each new comer being fed and sheltered 
by the one who preceded him. Hence, nearly all the old houses in the 
the town by tradition were "taverns." 

The oldest tavern in this town limits according to records is the old 
Stewart-Kellar house, about a mile westerly from the village near the pres- 
ent residence of Horace Bowman, (see cut p. 74,) and James Young was 
the landlord. It was about 22x34 feet, later having an addition of 16 feet. 
The old road to Mount Ross passed at the corner of the house. It was 
geographically nearly central in North East Precinct as to its eastern and 
western limits, that is, now the western boundary of Milan and the eastern 
boundary of North East. Here the first town meeting of which I have any 
record (there were probably precinct elections earlier) was held in North 
East Precinct on the fifth day of Aprd, 1774, when Morris Graham was 
elected supervisor, and Charles Graham town clerk. James Bryan and 
Hontice Couse were elected assessors of county taxes ; Hontice Couse and 
Israel Thompson assessors for quit rents; George Head constable for west 
ern district (Milan), James Young constable for middle district (Pine 
Plains), Josiah Holley for eastern district (North East); James Hedding, 
Hontice Couse and James Bryan overseers of the poor; Lewis Bryan, Dan- 
iel Wilson and Israel Thompson commissioners of roads. 

Pine Plains had not then a being, and there was no legal highway from 
the now village to this house. Probably there was a winding path or wag- 
on track between the pines over the plains, but the road as it is now to that 
old house was not laid out and made a legal highway until 1785, eleven 
years after this election. After this first recorded election the annual elec- 
tions for North East Precinct were held at this now old house for several 
years, eight in all, the last one being April 2d, 1792. Could the old 
house speak it might tell of "the good old times" other than those of the 
annual town meeting, for after the proprietorship of James Young this 
old house was a hostelry that served many a good dinner and a hot rum 
between times. 

In 1782 Cornelius C. Elmendorph, of Red Hook, commenced keeping 
tavern in a log house on the site of the now Stissing House Corner, and the 
spring election for North East Precinct in 1783 was held at this house. 



292 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

This was the first hotel in the now village. "Captain" Cornelius C. 
Elmendorph was the popular and gentlemanly landlord of this hostelry 
from 1782 to the spring of 1797. All the annual elections of North East 
Town were held here, and meantime, at the spring election of 1785 it was 
" Voted unanimously at this meeting that the part of the Precinct hereto- 
fore known by the name of the pine plains be forever hereafter called and 
distinguished by the name of Clinton Plains." 

No reason is assigned for this change that I have discovered, but this 
name was a matter of record for three years, to 1788, when the township 
organizations in the county took effect, and North East Precinct became 
North East Town. 

This extinguished Clinton Plains as a name forever, as applied to this 
locality. Though apparently a small matter, it has been the cause of no 
little confusion and error among annalists where this locality has been put 
down for the town of Clinton. Ebenezer Baldwin succeeded Mr. Elmen- 
dorph, and was there in 1797 and 1798. Peter Husted is supposed to have 
succeeded Mr. Baldwin, as the town meetings were held at his house in 
1799, 1800 and 1801. Peter Newkirk, the next landlord, was there in 1802, 
1803, 1804 and 1805. Doctor Israel Reynolds was its innkeeper from 1806 to 
1823 inclusive, except the year 1812, when Stephen Reynolds appears as the 
inn keeper. He Avas the father of Israel, and the management was proba- 
bly the same as that of Doctor Israel Reynolds. Samuel Deuel was the inn- 
keeper in 1824, and Andreas Pulver took the house in 1825, and was the 
landlord until his decease in 1832, when his widow, Mrs Margaret Pul- 
ver, continued in 1833 and '34, and in 1835 Henry C. Myers became the 
popular landlord until the spring of 1867 or '68. The hotel had great 
celebrity as a hostelry under his management. In the '30s and '40s large 
droves of cattle and sheep "from the west" in passing through the village 
were pastured or fed for a night or more in the fields belonging to this inn, 
and the drovers always found the dining tables bountifully laden with 
substantial food. Mrs. Myers in her management in this line, be it said, 
w T as an abundant provider, and was ever ready to meet any sudden or un- 
expected demand. In doing this she had at this time highly efficient aid 
in her three accomplished daughters. Lorenzo Decker succeeded and was 
the inkeeper in 1867, '8 and '9. Marshall Doty in 1870, '1, '2. Lorenzo 
Decker in 1873. Warren S. Dibble in 1874, '5, '6, '7. Lorenzo Decker in 
1878, '9, '80, '81. Albert Bowman from 1882 to 1894. The land attached 
to or belonging to this hotel was on the George Clarke Little Nine Partner 
lot, which fell to him on the division of the patent. Thus from the first 
log hotel here in 1782 or '3 to 1895, possession was held under a lease from 
the heirs of George Clarke, the patentee. In 1895 all George Clarke lands 
west of the village were sold under mortgage foreclosure by the Equitable 
Insurance Company, of New York, and Mr. Coon and Mr. Miller, from 
Germantown, bought the present hotel property at this sale. Miller Pul- 



STISSING HOUSE. 293 

ver succeeded Albert Bowman from April 1, 1894, to April 1, 1895. Mr. 
Frank Barton entered the hotel in the spring of 1895 under a lease from 
Coon and Miller, and is now (1897) the innkeeper. Repairs have been made 
on the property at sundry times during the one hundred or more years, 
the most expensive and important, meantime, having been made by Henry 
C. Myers above, during his term of management, who built the large barn 
and shed now there, each having been repaired since they were built. 

In the early '30s of this century — probably earlier than this — there was 
a sign post twenty feet or more high, set in the ground at the north east 
corner of the hotel, having an arm at the top on which hung the "sign 
board " fastened on the arm with a hook and eye at each end of the board, 
that it might swing by the force of the wind. If there are any now living, 
who in the '30s or '40s were residents of the village or even the town, they 
cannot forget the doleful midnight creaking of that swinging board. It 
was suggestive of the door to perdition on grated hinges turning. "H. C. 
Myer, Hotel " was on the board. This sign post it is said had decayed at 
the foot and been reset three times since it was first set, and was taken 
down when repairs were made to the house by Albert Bowman when this 
old hostelry was named " Stissing House. " These repairs left it as it ap- 
pears in the cut on page 86. 

KETTERER HOTEL. 

The first tavern on this site was a log house as early as 1798. 
Doctor Asahel Haskins was soon after, in 1804, proprietor of this 
property which contained three acres or more .extending east on Church 
Street to the now dwelling of Peter Wolven, and South Street to the 
Frank Eno law office. Dr. Haskins is supposed to have kept a tav- 
ern here or leased it for that purpose until 1804, when Fyler Dib- 
blee and Ebenezer Dibblee purchased the corner and built a large 
hotel, so considered tben. It was a three story building, the upper story 
or garret being built and finished for a masonic lodge. It was well under 
the roof to be secure from cowans and eavesdroppei^s. Ezra L. Barrett was 
the carpenter builder, who the next year built the old Bostwick store, 
now renovated and known as the Chase store. The hotel was ready for 
occupancy in 1805, when Nathaniel Ruggles entered it as the first landlord 
and continued there to 1809. Almon Bostwick went there in 1810, and re- 
mained one year. Matthew Trowbridge and Miles Dunbar were his success- 
ors in 1811. Dunbar remained about a year and Trowbridge went on alone 
to 1818. His wife was from Danbury, Conn., and meantime from 1811 to 
1818 one of his daughters had married Henry I. Traver, a prominent jus- 
tice of the peace, who came here in 1812, and another daughter had mar- 
ried Abraham Parsons. At the end of his term in the hotel Mr. Trow- 
bridge moved to Bangall, kept a hotel, and later went to Salisbury, Conn., 
where he deceased Nov. 9, 1822. He was buried at Pine Plains, and his 
widow lived between times with Mrs. Traver and Mrs. Parsons. 




Ketterer Hotel. 
[D. C. Ketterer to the left on porch below; Mrs. Margaret D. Ket- 
terer to the left on upper porch.] 



KETTEKER HOTEL. 295 

During the management of this hostelry by Mr. Trowbridge, and even 
earlier and later, horse racing was a popular amusement fad, and wide- 
spread by contagion. The whole county was infected and especially the 
northern portion. Trowbridge had a good share of horsemen patronage, 
and his stables were celebrated for horsepitality. Horses had significant 
and far fetched names in conglomerate. David Winans owned " Black- 
and-all Black," "Old Janus" and "Old Drown." Harry Hutchinson owned 
"Speculator." Harry De La Vergne owned "Wicked Will." William and 
John McDonald owned "King Herod," each a running racer and in 
races at divers times at Pine Plains. McDonald was prominent among the 
"horse set" of that day, and he on one occasion used his wit and influence 
to good account in this manner: Mr. Trowbridge's hotel rent was coming 
due, and no means to pay it. "Advertise a horse race," said McDonald. 
"I will match my horse against any one, and we will keep the horses here 
two days." The race was advertised, and the horses failed to "get a good 
start" until sundown of the second day, and the payment of the rent was 
thus made an easy matter. These were two famous days, so I am told, 
for Pine Plains. One John Bates, a waggish humorist, amused the crowd 
by singing some doggerel rhyme of his own make, and in favor of the 
horse against McDonald's. One verse is a specimen : 

"Then up steps Mc with a little paper money, 

A few hard dollars and crowns; 

I dare you to run him for one hundred pounds ; 
Wicked Will is his name, 
Wicked Will it shall remain, 
For beating King Herod all on the Pine Plains." 

Abraham Parsons, son in law of Mr. Trowbridge, was the landlord in 
1819, and he was succeeded by Benjamin R. Bostwick who kept this hos- 
telry in 1820, '21 and '22. At this house December 30, 1820, a meeting for 
North East (Pine Plains was then part of North East) was held to appoint 
delegates to the county convention for choosing delegates to revise the 
state constitution in 1821. Foreclosure sales under mortgages were held 
there at sundry times in these years. Abraham R. Knapp had a sale of 
this sort there June 12, 1822. Mr. Bostwick was succeeded by Abraham 
Parsons, the same Abraham of 1819. He dispensed the drinks and victuals 
until April 1, 1826, and was followed by the rolicking, jolly, easy going 
Job Stevenson, who thought tavern keeping was just fitted for him and he 
for it, and so he ventured. He told stories and made his guests happy in 
the bar-room while Hannah Gilbert, his wife, cooked the dinners for full 
two years, which expired April 1, 1828. Then Charles Patterson, from 
Mount Washington township, Mass., thought to give the business a trial 
for one year to learn whether or not he was made for such work. It was 
a great change for this hostelry from the jolly Job to the philosophical, 
metaphysical Charles, for once on a knotty point he was deaf to the en- 



296 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

treaties for New England rum, and one year was enough. He was suc- 
ceeded by Tripp Hoag, known better as a carpenter, in 1829, who was there 
until 1837, his wife principally doing the duties of landlord, and he work- 
ing at his trade. Nicholas N. Pulver was next and remained two years. 

Henry R. (Romer) Hammond was the next man, taking the house 
April 1, 1839. He was from Ulster County, had married in 1834 Eliza El- 
more, daughter of James T. Elmore, of Esopus, N. Y. She deceased here 
December 30, 1840, leaving two daughters, Mary Elizabeth, born in 1835 in 
Ulster County, and Katharine, born in Pine Plains in 1840. Mr. Ham- 
mond left the hotel April 1, 1840. He gave life to the hostelry by his re- 
markable energy and life, and was supervisor of the town in 1841-2. He 
returned to the hotel in the autumn or early winter of 1842 (he having mar- 
ried Miss Julia A. Pulver), and was its genial, suave and popular landlord 
until the spring of 1844. It is doubtful if this hotel had ever been so at- 
tractive and popular as under his management. - 

Henry Hageman next, and he and his family, wife and daughters, all 
combined to make the inn attractive. Perhaps his good-looking and 
obliging daughters were aids to its patronage and success. The culinary 
department had wide celebrity for the good things it turned out. A wood- 
cock supper at Hageman's was a great event for the chappies, and the Ha- 
gemans never made a mistake in cooking this most delicious bird. Only 
two, hereabouts, are left, as I now remember, of this set who then had a 
sitting at Hageman's. These were halcyon days for this hostelry; and he 
was its manager until 1851. Albert T. Jones came next, then Mrs. Hoag, 
widow of Tripp Hoag, then George H. Burhans, who was succeeded by Wil- 
liam Jones, who, after staying a year, was followed by Cornelius Pitcher. 
Then William Jones purchased the property and kept the hotel. Next 
landlord was Albert T. Jones, and then Charles Morgan and then Edward 
Simmons. Charles Ketterer was next, who purchased the property and 
commenced keeping the hotel in the spring of 1872. In that year he built 
the addition used as a dining room now, and in 1882 the Ketterers made 
extensive repairs by putting on an additional story where formerly had been 
the masonic lodge room. The repairs then made completed the building 
as it is now, and so it appears in the cut. Mr. Dewitt C. Ketterer, the 
present landlord, who has been there nearly twenty years, is a son of 
L'l arles. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

PHYSICIANS. 

The earliest physician of any record was a German Doctor, Hendrick 
Haskell, who lived on Winchell Mountain in 1743. The following were 
not all residents, but practiced in the bounds of old North East: Doctor 
Lewis Barton 1770-1801. He lived in Stanford. Doctor John Adams, Sen., 
of Amenia Precinct 1765. Doctor John L. Bull 1770, 1787, 1807. Doctor 
Matthias B. Miller 1780. He married a Thompson, and lived near "The 
Square." Doctor Jeremiah Wilcocks 1784. Doctor Manning Bull 1783. 

Doctor Masters 1794. Doctor Asahel Haskins 1804. Doctor Cornelius 

Allerton 1810, 1811, 1812, 181(5. Doctor Elijah Adams 1788, 1801, 1818, 
1814. Doctor Uriah Judd 1811. Doctor Curtis J. Hurd 1818, '19, '20, '21. 
Doctor Peter Snyder 1833. Doctor Jno. F. Bartlett 1813, '15, '18, '20. Doc- 
tor ■ Stewart 1814. '16. Doctor D. L. Dodge, Dr. Peter Guernsey 1824. 

Doctor Reed 1825. Doctor Adna Heaton 1784. Doctor Delano 

1788. Doctor Denny 1826. 

The old Precinct poor book contains some interesting medical dots 
pertaining to some of these physicians. In 1790 "Allowed to Lewis Barton 

Doc. for Doctrine the wife of Ephraim , £2, 6s, 5p." Doctor Matthias 

B. Miller in 1780 was paid by Isaac Smith, Esq., then a poor master in 
North East Precinct £154, 10s. "for doctoring Mary Carpenter, one of the 
Precinct poor. " Frederick Ham, overseer in 1784, paid Doctor Jeremiah 
Wilcocks for "doctring Hobart Cameron." Doctor Elijah Adams was paid 
one pound in 1788. Doctor Cornelius Allerton first appears on the poor 
book March 27, 181 1 • ■ By cash allowed Doctor Allerton for attending Jack 
Hubbard $2.25, and again in 1812 "for medical attendance." Doctor Dorr 
in 1821 "for medical aid for Betty Campbell." 

After Pine Plains town was organized as it is now, Doctor Benjamin 
S. Wilber, father of Doctor Henry C Wilber, appears in 1S24. Isaac Sher- 
wood, then an overseer of the poor, writes: "February 7, I went to Doc- 
tor Wilber to make an agreement for his services for doctoring Cyrus 
Prindle 4s a visit every other day." Doctor John Perry, then of North 
East, or Amenia, also attended Prindle during this year (1824). Prindle 
deceased in the following January, and Doctor Perry's bill was $8.00, and 
Doctor Wilber's $9.00 which was collected for him March 29, 1825, by Col. 
Silas Harris of Samuel Russel, then an overseer of the poor. 

Doctor Denny in 1826 (Pine Plains), had a bill "for 17 visits and 

medicine for tie Bullock family at 75 cents each." 




Dr. Cornelius Allerton. 
[See Lineage.] 



PHYSICIANS. 299 

Doctor Cornelius Allerton came to Pine Plains in 1810 and lived and 
practiced here until his decease in 1855, aged 76. Doctor Benjamin S. Wil- 
ber practiced here in 1824, moved to the town of Washington soon after 
and returned to this town in 1835 and practiced until his decease in 1871, 
aged 76 years. Doctor Jacob I. H. Davis settled first at Mount Ross in 
1821, and in 1834 moved to Pine Plains village and practiced until his de- 
cease in 1851. Doctor Charles H. Skiff succeeded Doctor Perry, came here 
in 1834. practiced about three years, then moved to Spencertown, Colum- 
bia County. Doctor Bartlett and Doctor Walter Herrick about 1850. 

Doctor Desault Guernsey, a graduate from New York College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons in 1850, came to Pine Plains and commenced practice 
about 1853, and remained until the war of the rebellion, when he was a 
volunteer surgeon under Gen. McClellan and later surgeon in the 174th N. 
Y. Regiment. He later settled in Amenia, Duchess County, where he 
practiced until his decease. Doctor Darwin E. Stillman came here in the 
year 1861 and practiced until 1876, when he went to Baltimore. Doctor 
Charles Cole was graduated from Bellevue Medical College in 1872, com- 
menced practice at Mount Ross and moved to Pine Plains in 1876. He was 
compelled from ill health to retire from active practice in 1881, and de- 
ceased in Pine Plains in 1884. He had prospectively a future of success 
and usefulness. His death so early in life was a great loss to the commu 
nity. Doctor Henry Clay Wilber, a son of Doctor Benjamin S. Wilber, 
was graduated at Bellevue Medical College in 1867, and commenced prac- 
tice in Pine Plains. He has lived here continuously since and is still in 
practice (1897). Dr. George S. Beckwith came here from Ballston, Sara- 
toga County, in 1876, and practiced until prevented by ill health. He de- 
ceased here. Doctor George Q. Johnson came here in 1885 and practiced 
until his removal to Ardsley in 1895. Doctor John H. Cotter 2d, a gradu- 
ate of the Albany Medical College, after a year and a half of practice at 
Jackson Corner and vicinity, came to Pine Plains in the latter part of 1895,. 
and is still here. 




Dr. Henry C. Wilber. 

[See Lineage, j 



CHAPTER XXXV 
POST ROUTES AND MAIL ROUTES. 

Doctor Israel Reynolds came to Pine Plains in 1795 or '6, and the next 
year in company with Alexander Neeley, of North Amenia, now North 
East Center, started a post route at their own expense from Sharon to 
Rhinebeck through North Amenia (as it was then) and Pine Plains. 

(Note. — Elsewhere in these annals under the head of Early Settlers, an 
interview with Mrs. Hiram Wilson, daughter of Israel Reynolds, is report- 
ed, in which she mentions 1798, the year he came here. A town record 
speaks of his being here in 1795, but he may not have moved his family 
here until later. A receipt further on has a bearing on this point.) 

They continued this route until 1818, when the general post office de- 
partment, finding it self-sustaining, established a mail route ' 'from Rhine- 
beck by North East and Amenia to Sharon." This was the route Israel 
Reynolds and Alexander Neeley started in 1797 or '8. "North East," in 
the above route, was the name of the post office at Pine Plains, which name 
it had borne since Mr. Reynolds first started the route. The post office in 
now North East was "Spencer's Corners." The post office in now the 
town of Milan, was "West North East." Milan was taken from North 
East and organized in the spring of 1818, the year the mail route was es- 
tablished. In the Dutchess Observer of September 2, 1718, this notice ap- 
pears : ' ' The name of the post office heretofore called ' West North East ' 
in this county, of which Stephen Thorne, Esq. , is Post Master, has been 
changed to Milan. Persons directing to that office will notice the altera- 
tion for the future." The next year, 1819, that part of the mail route 
from Pine Plains to Rhinebeck was taken off, also that part from North 
East Center to Sharon, and a route established having this heading : ' 'From 
Pine Plains on the Ulster and Delaware turnpike to North Amenia." This 
gave "Pine Plains ' the first official name as a post office, and North Ame- 
nia to now North East Center. Amenia, (Paine's Corners,) as now, was on 
the mail route "From Poughkeepsie by Sharon to Litchfield " in 1891. It 
is probable that Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Neely were appointed the official 
postmasters respectively at Pine Plains and North Amenia at the estab- 
lishment of the route in 1818. In this way Pine Plains had an official 
name as a post office four years previous to its organization as a town. 
Letters, however, addressed "North East" came to Pine Plains several 
years after 1819. 

About three years later than the establishment of these mail routes, 
Mr. Reynolds in answer to a letter from the post office department writes : 




Dr. 



Israel Reynolds. 

[See Lineage.] 



POST ROUTES AND MAIL ROUTES. 303 

"The sum now due to the general Post office from this office is $72.68, 
and I will send it to New York by the first safe conveyance, or if you pre- 
fer that I should answer an order for that amount I should prefer to do so. 
When this Post office was first established Congress would not pass a law to 
make it an established Post Route. But the Post Master said he had au- 
thority to establish it as a Post Route provided any one would carry the 
mail free of expense, and they had a right to receive all the postage. Mr. 
Alexander Neely and myself agreed to carry the mail on those conditions 
provided we were appointed post masters. Accordingly this office went 
into operation and was established under those conditions, and we contin- 
ued to carry the mail until Congress established it as a Post Route. There- 
fore I have not given the General Post Office any credit previous to that 
time. About two or three years ago one of the clerks in the Post office in- 
formed me that there stood on the book a balance aga inst me to a consider- 
able amount including the time before the law established this Post office, 
requesting me to forward any sett off that I might have to the general 
Post office. Accordingly I gave them a correct statement of the facts rel- 
ative to this Post office and requested him, that if it was not satisfactory 
to inform me. As I have never heard any more about it, I concluded it 
was satisfactory." 

This valuable historical document is unfortunately without date. 
From other data, in part corroborative, it seems to have been written 
about 1821. It is a copy, written by himself, of the one he sent to Wash- 
ington. Mr. Reynolds makes this accounting of his post office for the last 
five years and a half of his volunteer mail service, previous to his official 
appointment as post master : 

"An account of monies received and paid out at the Post office at 
Northeast from the 16 of April. 1812, to October 1, 1817. Mails received 
$335.80*. Mails sent $53. 24. On newspapers $67. 30. Total $456,344. Paid 
Mr. Neeley at several times $348.12, Paid for advertising table $6.30. 
Dead letters sent to the general Post office $27.16. Letters on hand $12.00. 
Total $393. 58." 

This may be a duplicate of the statement he sent to Washington in an- 
swer to the letter of "one of the clerks," in his letter above, but this is only 
inference. Mr. Neeley seems to have carried the mail during these years, 
probably from Pine Plains to Sharon — as appears from this receipt : 

" Received July 5, 1814, of Israel Reynolds thirty-five dollars, in the 
account of conveying the mail by me. 

Alexander Neeley." 

The following receipt is the earliest to my knowledge of Israel Rey- 
nolds' mail service: "Received of Israel Reynolds this 10th day of Novem- 
ber, 1797, the sum of eight shillings for the Poughkeepsie Journal from No. 
612 to No. 637, by me Samuel Wightman." [Note. — This is a printed form 
from the office of the Journal. Samuel Wightman, called Whitman, lived 
in the west part of the town of North East as it then was. ] 

A few extracts from an old book of memorandums of Israel Reynolds 
indicate some of the newspapers of the day, who read them, and the time 
when : 



304 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

"April 16, 1812, Henry I. Traver began to take the Albany Register, 
April 23 th« Columbian, April 23 the Bae. Map 27, 1812, Peter W. Pulver 
began to take the Poughkeepsie Journal. June 8. 1812, Christian Shultz 
began to take the Albany Register. July 20, 1813, Samuel Tanner began 
to take the Albany Argus. July 16, 1812, Isaiah Dibble began to take the 
Columbian. July 16, 1812, Silas Germond began to take the Columbian. 
Nov. 10, 1813, Eli Bostwick began to to take the New York Spectator. 
July 6, 1814, Silas Harris began to take the Columbian. October 1st. 1817, 
Tripp Hoag began to take the Columbian. May 27. 1812, J. (Jonas or John?) 
Myers began to take the Herald. August 0, 1812, Captain Fyler Dibblee 
began to take the Columbian, February 5, 1813, the Albany Argus, January 
10, 1814, the Price Current. July 7, 1812, John Couch began to take the 
Hudson Bee. February 25, 1813. David Winans began to take the Albany 
Argus, 2 papers a week. February 24, 1813, John W. Righter began to 
take the Albany Argus, 2 papers a week. February 28, 1813, Isaac B. 
Smith began to take the Albany Argus. February 25, 1813, Captain Isaac 
Huntting began to take the Albany Argus, two papers a week Received, 
February 25, 1814, one dollar and four cents for one year's postage. Re- 
ceived, May 4th, 1815, one dollar and three cents in full for postage. Feb- 
ruary 25, 1813, Gurdon Miller began to take the Albany Argus. February 
25, 1813, Egbert Thompson began to take the Albany Argus February 
25, 1813, John Waters began to take the Albany Argus. April 14, 1814, 
John Harris began to take the Albany Argus. March 25, 1813. Gilbert 
Thorne began to take the Albany Argus and th^ New York Columbian. 
April 8, 1813, Matthias Hoffman began to take the Albany Argus. April 
8, 1S13, David Sheldon began to take the Albany Argus. June 16, 1813, 
Aaron E. Winch ell began to take the New York Price Current. Septem- 
ber 2, 1813, Cornelius Allerton began to take the New York Columbian. 
March 1, 1817, John L. Knickerbocker began to take the Spectator. Aug- 
ust 19, 1813, Cornelius Husted began to take the Albany Register. Septem- 
ber 2, 1813, Seymour Smith began to take the Albany Argus. March 8, 
1814, James Husted began to take the Albany Argus. February 1, 1815. 
William Stevenson began to take the N Y. Columbian. November 
20, 1816, Mr. Vedder and Delamater began to take the N. Y. Columbian." 

These selections are interesting as to the men, the newspapers and the 
number taken. In men it represents prominence and wealth much greater 
in each respect than exist to day in the same geographical limits. News- 
papers then and for several years later were generally taken from the post 
man or mail carrier, who accounted for them to the printer, or publisher, 
especially the county papers. But if taken through the mail postage was 
added. The above papers were principally published out of the county, 
and subscribed for through Israel Reynolds, who accounted to the pub- 
lishers, and charged the postage to the subscribers, which for one paper a 
week was about fifty cents a year. The years including these subscrip- 
tions (1812 to 1815) increased the receipts of the office and probably caused 
the government to take the route. Pine Plains received its mail by this 
route until 1822, when the government established the route "From 
Poughkeepsie by Pleasant Valley, Salt Point, James Thome's in Clinton, 
Friends Meeting House in Stanford, the Federal Store, and from thence to 
the Pine Plains Post office in the town of North East." The next year 
(1823) Pine Plains and North East towns were respectively organized as 



POST ROUTES AND MAIL ROUTES. 305 

mow Mr. Neeley was then in business in North East Center, was post- 
master, and the first election in North East as it is now, was held that 
spring at his store. Mr. Reynolds was postmaster continuously from his 
■official appointment until a short time before his decease in 1824, a term of 
about twenty-five years, including his voluntary mail service commencing 
in 1797 or '8. 

The mail route of 1822 from Poughkeepsie to Pine Plains, as above, was 
called the "long route." Matthias Burnett Conklin — better known as 
"Burn," brother of Herriman, called "Hep .," a resident of Pine Plains — 
was the first or about the first mail carrier on this route. In the Pough- 
keepsie Journal appears this notice: 

"Post Rider's Notice. — M. B. Conklin, post rider on the northern route 
from Poughkeepsie to Pine Plains, informs his subscribers that another 
half year has expired, and respectfully invites them to leave their pay 
where they receive their Papers. May 10, 1825." 

In the fall following in the same paper Mr. Conklin puts in this notice: 

' 'Post rider from Poughkeepsie to Pine Plains. Informs his subscrib- 
ers that another half year expired on the 9th ult. He requests all those in- 
debted to him to make payment to enable him to meet the demands of 
the printers. Those who have been punctual are l-equested to accept his 
thanks, and those who have been negligent he hopes will mend their ways 
bv paying the post promptly on this occasion. Pine Plains, November 
21, 1825." 

' This route was not continued many years, and was principally a post 
or mail route without provision for passengers. About 1830 a direct route 
was established from Poughkeepsie to Pine Plains by Pleasant Valley, 
Salt Point, Stanfordville and Pine Plains, on which Burnett Conklin was 
the first mail carrier, putting on the stage coach and four horses twice a 
week, carrying mail and passengers. This was the principal mail and pas- 
senger route for Pine Plains, and as a passenger route was popular and 
profitable. Later it was increased to thrice a week mails and passengers, 
and continued so until the completion of the Harlem Raihoad in 1852, 
when Millerton became the principal point for the mails and commerce of 
Pine Plains. 

During the early '50's a daily mail was run between Pine Plains and 
Barrytown. About 1860 this was changed to twice a week, and a few 
years later discontined. 

In 1869 the Newburgh, Duchess & Connecticut Railroad came to the 
present village, and about two years later the Poughkeepsie & Eastern. 
By these routes there are now (1896) a total of nine daily mails in and out 
from Pine Plains. 

Reuben W. Bostwick was the successor or near successor of Israel Rey- 
nolds as postmaster. At that time he was a merchant in the old store 
building, now Chase, the office being in a small room at the rear of the 
main room. He was postmaster for many years. Political opinion was 
not then, as now, " proper cause " for a change of postmasters. Since the 
resignation of Mr. Bostwick the office has been several times changed in 
location, and a greater number in its incumbents. The politics of the post- 
master of to-day must harmonize with the dominant administration. Mr. 
Frank Eno is now the post master (1897). 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

HARRIS SCYTHES. 

The scythe works at Hammertown was in its time the most important 
and extensive industry in this town. John Harris, the founder of the en- 
terprise in Pine Plains at Hammertown, when about twenty years old com- 
menced making scythes by hand on an anvil at the Andreas Rowe Corners, 
a half mile north of Shacameco station. The shop was owned by his uncle 
Joseph Harris, and was then in Amenia Precinct. Joseph Harris at that 
time owned a mulatto slave who was said to be a good scythe maker, and 
with whom John Harris had his first experience at scythe making. John 
Harris worked here about five years, meantime married Mary Gamble, and 
both emigrated about 1770 to Fort Ann, then an important military post 
about sixty- seven miles north east of Albany. 

Each succeeding year after his settlement brought increased trial and 
danger to him, as also to all the settlers in the region of Lake Champlain. 
In constant danger of harm by the Indians, and the uncertain tenure of life 
and property incident to the then uncertain colonial struggle for existence, 
he — having a wife and children — became alarmed, and in the spring of 
1777, before the winter snow had wasted, took what household goods he 
could load on an ox sled and started for the "Little Nine Partners" in 
Duchess County. Not out of sight of his house he saw it burning — the 
work of the Indians. His wife had left a day or two previously on horse 
back with her two daughters — all on one horse — the eldest about three 
years old. She arrived at her destination safely several days in advance of 
her husband, and to her last years related the incidents of this journey 
with vivid interest to her relatives and friends. John Harris also made his 
return safely to the old shop at the Andreas Rowe Corners, then supposed 
to be in the "Little Nine Partners," but upon the permanent location of 
the boundary line between the two patents a few years later it was in the 
territory of the " Great Nines. " The shop was on the north side of the 
corners a short distance from the combined stable and carriage house now 
there. Meantime, during the absence of John Harris at Fort Ann, scythe 
making had been continued at this shop by Joseph Harris and his mulatto 
slave and the scythes sold in southern Amenia and other adjacent points. 
A portion of the steel, possibly all, used in their manufacture was pur- 
chased at the " Steel Works," near now Wassaic, which was then (1776) 
made by Captain James Reed and a Mr. Ellis from the iron in pigs from 
Livingston's Ancram Furnace, which was carted to the Steel Works at 
ten shillings for twelve hundred pounds. Steel sold for a shilling a pound 



* 




<■'■ 



/ 



; : ■» 



.. - M 



'•(;■' 



m 



'■'A 



Harris Scythe Works. 1850. 



308 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

at retail, one hundred pounds for twenty dollars, and refined steel twenty- 
five dollars a hundred. The revolutionary war stopped the importation of 
iron and steel, and gave impetus to home manufacture. Hence the high 
price of iron and steel. Captain James Reed who manufactured steel had 
a store, and in 1776 purchased scythes of Joseph Harris at eighty-four- 
shillings a dozen, paying for them in steel and retailing them at ten shil- 
lings each. They were called "Harris Scythes," and from this fact Col. 
Silas Harris when he became a manufacturer of scythes a half century 
later, pasted a printed label on each scythe having the legend "Established 
in 1776." But it is not generally known that the Harris scythes of 1776 
were made at Andrus Rowe Corners by -'Joseph Harris, blacksmith," as 
proprietor. 

John Harris worked here at scythe making six years after his return 
from Fort Ann, when the revolutionary war having ended, he in 1733 pur- 
chased of Adam Snyder, in Pine Plains, one hundred acres which is the 
" old Harris farm," west of the Harris mills, now (1897) owned by Anthony 
H. Barton. This purchase included the sawmill and the dwelling oppo- 
site, which is the "old Harris house" now repaired. The grist mill prop- 
erty he purchased four years later, on which in 1808 a "new" grist mill 
was built which is the present grist mill, formerly called "Harris Mill." 

John Harris made scythes at a shop near the saw mill house when he 
first came there, and later had a shop below the grist mill. About 1786, 
Hugh Gamble, a brother of his wife, came as an apprentice, he being then 
about eighteen. Edmond Reynolds, later a well-known farmer, entered 
the shop about that time, and Mrs. Harris affectionately called him "one 
of my shop boys." Later in life he made scythes on his own account on 
the present Isaac Carman farm, principally for his own use. 

About 1790, a race was cut on the east side of the Shacameco com- 
mencing near the now Anthony H. Barton residence, extending to near 
the present residence of Mr. Slingerland at Hammertown, where shops, 
were established at the foot of the hill east of the house. The highway 
then was at the foot of this hill winding easterly to the bridge on the now 
highway. Thus the shop was on the highway. Harris and Gamble made 
scythes at these shops several years. About 1810, Seth Harris, from 
Kingsbury, N. Y., another branch of the family, % took a financial interest 
in the business with John Harris. Before leaving Kingsbury he had buried 
his wife, Isabella Gamble, sister to the wife of John Harris. They had 
three children, John, Silas and Elizabeth, who came with them. John and 
Silas became interested in scythe making. 

Better facilities for making scythes were needed to meet the increased 
demand, and upon the coming of Seth Harris and sons a site was secured 
on the west side of the stream now indicated by the ruins, and a race or 
ditch cut leading thereto on the west side to intersect the main stream 
about eighty rods above the shops. A dam was built at the new site and a 



HARRIS SCYTHES. 309 

frame building or shop erected near the present highway bridge, a trip 
hammer placed therein and used for the first time in the manufacture of 
the Harris scythes. The shop already mentioned on the east side under 
the hill was used in connection with the one on the west side, for turning 
and finishing, which as yet was done by hand. 

About 1812 Cyrus Burnap entered the shops of the Harris Company at 
a salary of $500 a year. He was a master workman and used the trip ham- 
mer. The business continued without any change of note until 1814 when 
John Harris and Hugh Gamble deceased, Gamble on the first of January, 
and Harris November 27, 1814. 

The business was now left to Seth Harris and his two sons, John and 
Silas. John was an ingenious and skilled workman, but Silas was never a 
' practical workman. About 1816 the stone shop was built, and a finishing 
trip put in, which made two trip hammers in the works. This building 
was 23 x 30, and besides the trips had a grindstone. It is the building 
to the right in the cut, with a small cupola. The finishing shop on the 
east plant, near the now Slingerland residence, was also used in connection 
with the shops on the west plant. Solomon Ferris, John Deuel and John 
Hall were principal finishers, and among their helpers was Ludlow E. Lap- 
ham, then a lad, who later moved to Penn Yan, N. Y. John Hall also at 
times worked in the frame shop on the west plant, and Cyrus Burnap used 
the finishing trip in the stone shop. At this time about five hundred doz- 
en scythes were made annually. The grinding of the scythes was divided 
between the works for that purpose in Ancram near the " Delamater 
place" and the shop here according to convenience and the supply of wa- 
ter. Little change took place in the business from 1817 to 1820, except the 
abandonment of the plant on the east side. John Harris had meantime 
married a daughter of William Righter, and Silas Harris, (Colonel, as he 
was called,) had married Maria, a daughter of Edward Puggsley. John 
lived in a dwelling on the side hill opposite the Peter Husted dwelling, and 
Silas in the old Harris house opposite the now Slingerland home, then the 
residence of Joshua Culver. Financial embarrassment came about this 
time. Seth Harris retired and continued in the same business at Salisbury, 
Conn., with one James Harris, with whom he was a partner, leaving the 
work here to his sons John and Col. Silas. [Note. — The Hudson Bee has 
this notice: James and Seth Harris's Scythes for sale by Rufus Reed, Hud- 
son, May 31, 1814] Cyrus Burnap left at this time and went to farming. 

Soon after this Col. Silas Harris became sole manager and proprietor 
and all the manufacturing was done at the west plant. The hammers were 
kept in motion and the financial struggle passed. John, his brother, re- 
mained as foreman eight yeai's, and among the principal workmen mean- 
time were John Hall, Solomon Ferris, John Deuel, James Deuel, Ludlow 
E. Lapham, John Bevans and Lewis Germond. The place was literally 
Hammer Town. 



310 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

In 1828 John Harris retired from the works, went to Winsted, Conn. , 
and made scythes, and harpoons for whaling vessels. He moved from Win- 
sted to North Carolina and engaged in lumbering and making stoves for 
the sugar trade. Later he moved to Albany, and kept a restaurant under 
the Exchange. He deceased in Albany. John Hall succeeded John Harris 
as superintendent. Col. Harris bad meantime (from '20 to '28) taken an in- 
terest in the Salisbury plant, and some of the workmen at Hammertown 
had moved there, among whom were Solomon Ferris, who had married 
a daughter of Hugh Gamble ; and her two brothers, Isaac Gamble and Jas. 
H. Gamble. 

In 1832, under the supervision of Col. Harris, the race from the west 
plant leading to the main stream above was enlarged, and improvements 
made in the flumes at the shops. In 1835 further improvements were made. 
A brick shop thirty by fifty-four was erected, and two trips placed therein. 
(Tbis is the front large building in the cut. ) To this on the south end was 
added a finishing room twelve by twenty-four. In the gable fronting the 
road of this main brick shop was placed a marble tablet about 18 inches 
square, on which was cut " 183o," the date of its erection. These improve- 
ments left the " Old Stone Shop" undisturbed. The scythe making works 
was then thoroughly organized by Col. Harris. James Deuel was super- 
intendent in the shops. Skilled workmen were employed, consisting prin- 
cipally of Milton Germond, Charles Ross, Wdlis Hurlburt, Caleb Birdsell, 
Cornelius Knickerbocker, John Bevans and Francis Brown. Jonas Knick- 
erbocker entered the shop at this time as an apprentice. The old trade 
mark was still stamped in the heel of the scythe with the letters "S. H." 
in the heart in the place of the former "J. H." Printed labels were also 
pasted on the scythes having this inscription: 

„ „ To increase the facilities for grinding, Col. 

? Established 177G. \ Harris secured a site about three and a half 

! All in "ill i m ^ es southeast from Pine Plains on the now 

? ulLAo HAKnlu S Isaac Halleck farm where " Grinding Works" 

S BfiSt StPPl Bark \ were erected. The building is now standing 

Full Set Grass < anc * * ue "ditch" that led the water can be 

\ Ci ft TT ITI TT Tl a < traced. He purchased land on Stissing Moun- 

; 5u i 1 ll is 1^!$ tain for the wood it bore to convert into char- 

^^ i coal. The smoke from the burning pits went 

m\ £& t heavenward during the day, and at night their 

WVjS (Br * fire flickerings were seen miles away, while the 

^Bg WW \ still valley was filled with that charcoal odor 

^^r J which enthusiastic colliers delight to call 

| Manufactured at the Old i ' "healthy. " Wood choppers, colliers, teamsand 

Establishment, * teamsters had each a niche to fill in this imper- 

\ Pike Plains, \ ative transportation of coal and iron to Ham- 

\ Dutches* County N Y \ mei 'town where the trip hammer, the fire and 

sv»vw»w»jgwwwwwvi^ the water converted iron and steel into util- 




Col. Silas Harris. 

[See Lineage.] 



312 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

ity for man. Skill was only needed, and with that the men stood 
armed at the forge and the anvil. To harmonize, combine and keep in 
motion these elements — things animate and inanimate — in this particular 
industry was the special work of Col. Harris. The clatter and bustle in 
Hammertown for a quarter of a century succeeding 1835 is evidence un- 
impeachable of his business ability in this regard. 

James Deuel remained superintendent until 1842, when he retired and 
went to Central New York, where he deceased. February second the 
same year Seth Harris deceased in his eightieth year, but he had retired 
from the business several years before his death. John Bevans, an experi- 
enced workman, succeeded Mr. Deuel as superintendent, which position 
he held until his death in April, 1849 — seven years. During these fourteen 
years — 1835 to 1849 — ten to twelve hundred dozen of scythes were made 
annually. 

In the fall of 1849, Mr. Jonas Knickerbocker, (see cut page 159) who,, 
after serving an apprenticeship in the Hammertown shops had moved 
to Saratoga County, returned to Pine Plains and became an equal partner 
with Col. Harris in the Hammertown plant and also in the Harris plant, at 
Salisbury. He remained, however, at the Hammertown shops as superin- 
tendent, Col. Harris superintending the outside matters. The principal 

mechanics at this time were Joseph Gee. Rice, Philo Barton, Stephen 

Miller, Walter Ferris, Henry Turner, Milo Knickerbocker and Hiram Krin- 
kle. In 1850 this plant turned out fifteen hundred dozen scythes. Harris and 
Knickerbocker continued the business as partners twelve years, the part- 
nership termimating at the decease of Col. Harris, April 19, 1862. 

Colonel Silas Harris was comprehensive and far-reaching in his busi- 
ness views and inclined to embrace more in his estimates than the means 
at hand could accomplish ; more liable to over estimate than to fall short, 
yet whatever it was he worked to accomplish his undertakings. He was 
a good organizer, and had the energy and concentrative mental ability to 
focalize all things on the object desired. He controlled the seemingly un- 
controllable by the force of his will and personal magnetism. Yet he was 
not combative, nor took pleasure in compulsion by power and opportunity. 
On the contrary he was kind hearted, generous, social and hospitable. He 
was possessed of a comfortable estate at his decease, the result of his wis- 
dom, industry and economy. His widow deceased June 16, 1877. They 
had two daughters, Margaret— Mrs. Luquere — who deceased in 1896, and 
Mary, who married Theodore Pomeroy, of Pittsfield, Mass. She deceased 
several years since, leaving four children. As Miss Harris she was remark- 
ably beautiful in person, and equally beautiful and lovely in character. 



HARRIS SCYTHES. 



313 



At the death of Colonel Harris Mr. Knickerbocker occupied the shops, 
under a lease from the heirs of Colonel Harris for two years and continued 
making scythes, using the following label inscription: 

"1776 Steel Back 

Champion Mirror Blade. 

The best that can be found, 

If properly used and ground. 
Jonas Knickerbocker, 
Pine Plains, Dutchess Co. , N. Y. 
Grind equal on both sides." 
At the expiration of this lease he failed to make any further arrange- 
ment for the property. The shops were unoccupied, and with the other 
Harris property w T ere sold to Mrs. Giles H. Duxbury in 1879. Decay and 
dissolution meantime had been doing their work. The trip hammers had 
been still a dozen years or more, and no force or power had come to revive 
them. The roofs were mouldering and the walls were crumbling. Ruin 
had been making her dwelling, not greenly, for no trellised vine was there 
to screen her work, but ruin, dry, gaunt, naked, starved. Practical life is 
sterner than sentiment, and hard cash of more utility than treasured mem- 
ories of the past. Twenty eight thousand brick were sold from the brick 
shop walls in 1879. Fifteen thousand of these went into the dwelling of 
G. G. Titus, now (1897) owned by William Bostwick. The remainder of 
the twenty-eight thousand were piece-mealed to chimneys and furnaces 
and patches of need. Stone for the basement walls of the late addition to 
the Presbyterian church of Pine Plains was hauled from here, and mon- 
uments in the evergreen cemetery have foundations made from the stones 
in these ruined walls. Only ruin is left to mark an industry which had its. 
beginnings a hundred years ago, and even that is being hauled away. 




CHAPTER XXXVII. 

DIBBLEE-BOOTH HOUSE. 

This was the old log house west of the village formerly on the site of 
the Albert Bowman residence, and is believed to have been originally an 
Indian trading post, and the first building or log house built in the town. 
It was twenty-four feet by sixty, one story, built of pine logs hewn square, 
from ten to twelve inches thick, put up in log cabin style, the ends of the 
logs halved, the whole fitted together as closely as possible. The trees 
•were probably cut in the immediate vicinity on "the plains," and were 
yellow pine, thick sap and red heart, resembling the "Norway" pine of 
Western Michigan. How long this house remained in this condition is not 
known, but previous to 1775 it had been repaired by taking off the roof and 
setting studding on the top logs to make an additional story. The whole 
building was then clapboarded, and plastered inside, and two stairways 
built on the outside to gain entrance to the upper story and porch. A cut 
in Smith's History of Duchess County, page 318, shows the house as it was 
after these repairs, of which the present cut is a copy. In this condition 
one Jonathan Lewis kept a store there before the revolution, he being the 
first occupant known by record. He is supposed to have been a brother 
of the Doctor Lewis, the "Tory," who went to Nova Scotia during the 
revolutionary war. After the war the Doctor returned, but reproach and 
scorn produced remorse and he hanged himself in the garret. From this 
circumstance it was called a "haunted house." In 1876 a centennial tea 
party was held there. Old time furniture and centennial dishes were 
brought in, and other revolutionary relics. The ghost of Doctor Lewis did 
not then and there appear to these centennial witches, nor make the doors 
"fly open and windows rattle." Wise ghost to keep away just then. 

Its next known occupant was Ebenezer Dibblee, who come from Salis- 
bury, Conn., in 1784," and opened a store. His wife and children came 
with him. Other children to them were born there later, he meantime 
keeping store in the first story until 1805, when the store part was 
used as an additional part of the dwelling. Mr. Dibblee lived here until his 
decease in 1826. The George Clark heirs owned the land during these 
years, and Mr. Dibblee possessed it by lease. Henry Hoffman, Esq., succeed- 
ed Mr. Dibblee in the lease in 1826, and his son Anthony was the next occu- 
pant of the house. He was succeeded in the lease in 1829 by Justus Booth, 
who possessed it several years, when it was called "the Booth house." 
Philip Lasher came in later as a long time occupant when it was called the 
Booth-Lasher house, which name it bore until it was taken down in 1878, 
and the present Albert Bowman dwelling erected on its site. 



DIBBLEE-BOOTH HOUSE. 



315 



When the old house was torn down to make room for the present 
dwelling in 1878, in the top logs of the log part were noticed the deep gains 
cut into them for the rafters of the original one -story log house. The bark 
on the unhewn edges of the logs was as sound as when put up, and the 
saw dust from the old logs had the strong, pitchlike odor of freshly cut 
pine. The logs were from twenty to sixty feet in length, and the trees from 
which they were made were about seventy years old according to the 
count of " rings," each ring indicating an annual growth. A brick taken 
from the chimney jam had the mould stamp, "1728." It is believed this 
brick was made in Holland and imported with others by the Dutch settlers 
on the Hudson and used for buildings. The date on this brick is about the 
time of the raising of this log house. A coarse shell comb was found in 
the tearing down having the letters " E. D. ," surrounded by a scroll on 
one side, and " 1799 " on the opposite side, all cut in with a knife. This 
evidently belonged to a member of the Ebenezer 'Dibblee family. Mr. 
Isaac Huntting has an interesting relic of this old log house in a substan- 
tial chair, made from one of the pine logs by the late Henry Englekee, a 
cabinet maker for a half century or more in Pine Plains. 




DlBBLEE-BOOTH HOUSE. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

LINEAGE 

Family genealogy of late has become a specialty, and the interest in it 
is on the increase, therefore nothing more than a reference to some early 
families will be attempted. Moreover a book containing the genealogy of 
some families in Duchess County is about to be published, thereby lessen- 
ing the interest that would otherwise pertain to this subject in a town his- 
tory. 

Allerton, Dr. Cornelius (see cut page 298) w r as a son of Dr. Reuben 
Allerton, and Lois Atherton of Amenia. Her brother, Cornelius Atherton, 
was practically the founder of the "Steel Works," which has passed into 
history as the work of Richard Sackett, the patentee. It was from this 
uncle that Dr. Allerton received his Christian name. In 1775 Dr. Reuben 
Allerton presented a bill to the town of Amenia for ' 'doctoring Elkanah 
Holmes, £6, 20s. 10p., and one year's interest, 8s. 7p." Probably this was 
near the commencement of his practice. He deceased in Amenia in 1806 
in his 56th year. His widow, Lois, deceased at Pine Plains (buried there) 
August 25, 1828, aged 71. Isaac Allerton, a Baptist minister at one time in 
"Old North East," was a nephew of Dr. Reuben. March 30, 1813, he was 
allowed by the overseers of the poor $42 for keeping Althea Bull. She was 
a, worthy and christian woman, and fell to the trust of a kind and gener- 
ous keeper. 

Dr. Cornelius first studied with his father, later a short term at New 
Haven, and came to Pine Plains (then North East) in 1810. He first ap- 
pears on record "Cash allowed Doct. Allerton for attendance on Jack 
Hubbard $2.25." Allowed March 27, 1811. Later he married Clarissa 
Husted, daughter of Peter Husted, and had children Mary, Sarah and 
Cornelius. He practiced medicine until his decease April 26. 1855, aged 
76. His widow deceased October 28, 1858, aged 63. His perceptive fac- 
idties were of high order, was quick and correct in diagnosis, and a bold 
yet careful practitioner. His quick repartee and ever ready wit made 
him in his day the most conspicuous man in the town. A genealogy of the 
Allertons has been published, Walter Scott Allerton it is said being the 
author. 

Baldwin, Ebenezer, first appears in what is now Pine Plains as a 
hotel keeper in 1797 as successor to Cornelius C. Elmendorph, on the Stis- 
sing House corner. He was there two years, had daughters Charlotte, 
Aminta and Clai-issa, and sons Frederick and Henry, then school children. 
Aminta married Gilbert Ketchum, an old North East family, wdio at one 



LINEAGE. 317 

time was sheriff of Duchess County. After his decease his widow lived in 
Pokeepsie. Clarissa married William Kirby, brother of Uriah, Clark and 
Gideon of Pawling. William Kirby deceased not long after his marriage, 
leaving a comparatively young widow and- one daughter, Ann Eliza. Mrs. 
Kirby never married again, and lived with her sister, Mrs. Ketchum, in 
Pokeepsie, where each deceased. Ann Eliza married a Dr. Hillis, of Po- 
keepsie, and has left descendants. 

Barton, Artemas S. and Anthony H. , now residents of this town, 
are sons of George Barton, son of Dr. Leonard Barton and Rachel Gale, of 
Stanford. The Barton and Gale families were early settlers in the north- 
east part of Stanford and the borders of Amenia. Reed's History of Ame- 
nia says one Roger Gale lived in that locality in 1776, and a descendant of 
his emigrated to Illinois, and was the founder of Galesburgh. Josiah Gale 
and Rachel Mead resided in Stanford and had ten children, eight daughters 
and two sons. The daughters married, and their descendants are many, 
some far away. George Barton, a son of Dr. Leonard Barton and Rachel 
Gale, is the near ancestor of the families in Pine Plains and adjoining. He 
married a daughter of Henry Hoffman, Esquire, and settled on a farm near 
Ancram Lead Mines, in Columbia County. He was an enterprising and 
successful farmer, and widely and honorably known for over half a cen- 
tury. 

Bostwick, Benjamin R., is the Pine Plains ancestor of the families 
now living in the village. He came here in 1803, bringing sons Reuben W. , 
Henry, Charles B. and Horatio Nelson, generally known as Nelson, and a 
daughter Eliza, who married Charles Johnson a lawyer of Pine Plains, 
and later settled in Pokeepsie. Reuben W. and Charles B. later became 
partners with Fyler Dibblee in merchandising, Reuben W. being a partner 
in 1816. They had a store at Red Hook which w r as conducted by Charles 
B., and one at Pine Plains conducted by Reuben W. A notice of May 31, 
1817, reads: 

"The subscribers have commenced the mercantile business at Upper 
Red Hook Landing, under the firm of Dibblee, Bostwick & Co. 

i Fyler Dibblee. 
Bostwick & Co., May 31, 1817. - Reuben W. Bostwick. 

( Charles B. Bostwick. 

Their advertisement for both stores reads: "A general supply of Gro- 
ceries, Hardware, Dry Goods, &c. Also iron, steel, oil, paints, glass, nails, 
salt, fish, &c. " These two stores and respective firms continued in busi- 
ness five years when the following notice appears: 

"North East, April 1822. The copartnership heretofore existing be- 
tween the subscribers under the firm of Fyler Dibblee & Company at North 
East in Dutchess County, and of Dibblee, Bostwick & Company at Red 
Hook Landing, was dissolved on the 13th of this instant by mutual con- 
sent. The mercantile business will in future be conducted at Red Hook by 
C. B. & R. W. Bostwick, under the firm of C. B. Bostwick & Co., and at 



318 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

North East by R. W. Bostwick, by whom the business of the late firms 
will be closed. " Fyler Dibblee. 

R. W. Bostwick. 

The Red Hook store was soon after closed and C. B. Bostwick went to 
Pine Plains in business with Reuben W. and his brother Henry, and con- 
tinued the business in the now Chase store building. Chas. B. was there 
four years, then went to New York. Later Reuben W. continued alone, 
Henry having removed to the "City," on the corners east of Smithfield 
church. Nelson went to the central part of the state. Later Reuben, son 
of Reuben W. , was a partner with his father, and a few years later both 
retired from the business. Reuben W. was president of the old Pine Plains 
Bank during its existence (see Pine Plains Bank, p. 275). Reuben, his son, 
was chosen cashier of this bank in 1852, and later was cashier of Stissing 
Bank and Stissing National Bank until his decease. (See cut p. 280.) His 
widow, two daughters and three sons now live in the village, two of his 
sons William and John H. being respectively president and cashier of 
Stissing National Bank. (See Stissing National Bank p. 278.) 

Bostwick. David, and Margaret his wife, another of the name, set- 
tled on the now Egbert Smith farm about two miles west of the village as 
early as 1775, when he signed the "Association " of the Revolutionary war. 
He deceased about 1784, and his widow was living there in 1790. In Feb- 
ruary, 1782, his wife Margaret, and Nancy Bostwick supposed to be her 
daughter, were witnesses in a law suit before Jonathan Landon, Esquire. 

Bowman, modern spelling. In old documents it is Boerman and 
Bowerman, the latter being considered the true form. The Bowermans — 
from Falmouth, Mass., 1767 — came from New Bedford, Conn., to the town 
of Dover in this county about 1780, and from there to now Milan about 
1790. There were three brothers, Maltiah, Silas and Macy, and their father 
and sisters in this first emigration. Maltiah settled at Lafayette and built 
a dwelling on the corner where now is the hotel; Macy settled on the 
Rowland Story farm, and Silas emigrated to Duanesburgh, near Albany, 
where he deceased. Maltiah is the ancestor of the Milan families of that 
name. He had sons Joseph, Otis Eseck, and Sands. Otis E. , a surveyor 
and for twenty years a lawyer, was the father of Jacob S. Bowman, 
and for many years past a resident of Pine Plains. He built the Bowman 
Opera House, (see cut p. 206, ) and is connected with other business enter- 
prises in the village. Contemporaneous with the immigrations of the 
Bowermans in Milan were the Wings in northern Stanford. The two fami- 
lies intermarried. Matthew Wing was one of the early settlers in New 
England, and his son Benjamin married Rhoda Rogers, a descendant of 
John Rogers the martyr, who was burned at Smithfield, England, Feb. 4, 
1555. Their son Jonathan married Anna Wood, daughter of Daniel Wood, 
in 1774. Her mother was Mary Wady, daughter of John Wady, who in 
1689 married Joanna Legg, (Spanish,) a descendant of Charles the Fifth, 




Jacob S. Bowman. 
[See Lineage.] 



320 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Emperor of Austria, and lived in Trenton, New Jersey. Jonathan Wing 
came to Northern Stanford about 1790 with the Bowermans, and was the 
first of that name in the town. He had children Ehoda, John, Daniel and 
Mahlon. Daniel married Phebe Wing, daughter of Captain James Wing 
and Hannah Bowerman, of New Bedford, daughter of Silas Bowerman and 
Lydia Gifford. He succeeded to the Wing homestead in Stanford, where 
his children Anna, Ehoda, Martha and Daniel were born. The daughters 
were celebrated for their vivacity and wit and good hearts. The Wings 
and Bowermans had Quaker tendencies. 

Bowman, Albert, for several years manager of the Stissing House, 
is a descendant of Maltiah Bowman. Horace Bowman, now a resident of 
the town, is a son of his. 

Bryan families prominent in this vicinity forty years ago, trace their 
lineage to Alexander Bryan, born about 1716. His children were Elijah, 
Ezra, Sarah. Ezra, born 1840, was married to Sarah Peck in 1761, byEev. 
David Judson, of Newtown, Conn. She was 91 at her decease. Ezra was 
the first settler in the Bryan neighborhood, near Shacameco. He built a 
saw mill about one half mile north of the station to accommodate the 
settlers, and about 1794 inaugurated the "Bryan fanning mill," which at- 
tained celebrity in later years by his descendants. The land then owned 
by him is now (1897) owned by his descendants. His children were Alex- 
ander, Elijah, David, Isaac, Amos. All bearing the name in this locality 
are descendants of Amos. Ezra Bryan was a leading Quaker, and did the 
carpenter work of the Quaker meeting house at Bethel. (See cut p. 155.) 

Bnrnap, Cyrus, came to Pine Plains about 1812, and worked in the 
Harris Scythe works. He was a superior workman. About 1820 he left 
the shops, married that year Eunice, daughter of John Harris, and settled 
on the farm where Burnap Jordan now lives, and deceased there in 1876, 
aged 84. 

Barlow, Moses, as first known here, lived in the, Young-Stewart old 
hotel, about a mile and a half northwest of the village, and later on 
Church Street, east of the corners. Later still in 1805 the family moved to 
the Ten Eyck farm, south of now C. C. More, succeeding Friend Sheldon 
in the Ten Eyck dwelling. Mr. Barlow was a " pettifogger" in a justice 
court. His wife was a sister to Thomas Braman, who lived about a mile 
east of the Sackett corners, south of Attlebury station. Their children 
were Braman, Smith, Moses, Morris, Jacob, James, Stephen, Cynthia, 
Amy, Betsey. Cynthia married Dr. Asahel Haskins, a physician at Pine 
Plains, and at one time owner of about three acres including the Ketterer 
Hotel corner. Not long after her marriage Doctor Haskins deceased, and 
she soon after married Daniel Smith, a son of Peter Smith. Smith de- 
ceased leaving a daughter who later married Morris Thompson, son of 
Caleb Thompson at the Square. He kept the "Brick Tavern," now Tripp 
farm house, at the Square. Not long after, Morris Thompson, his wife 



LINEAGE. 321 

and her mother deceased of fever nearly at the same time. Smith Bar- 
low, one of the brothers Barlow was killed by the accidental discharge of 
a cannon on a fourth of July. Reed's History of Amenia, p. 79, mentions 
the Barlow families, probably relatives of the Pine Plains families. 

Barri ii»cr. Jacob, was from a Palatine family among the early 
settlers of Rhinebeck and Red Hook, and the name frequently appears on 
the records of the church of these respective churches. Jacob, above, a 
blacksmith, came to Pine Plains in 1820 and took the "Stocking" shop ad- 
joining the P. & E. Railroad. He worked here — Daniel Pulver working 
with him who later took the shop — until 1824, when he went to the Hoff- 
man Mills one mile north of the village, his shop standing on the rock op- 
posite the grist mill. He worked here until 1828, when he started a shop 
at now Bethel, the shop being near the now Palmer dwelling. He worked 
here until 1837, when he moved to " Slab City," now Stissing, where he 
worked until his decease. He has descendants living. Peter Hidorn suc- 
ceeded to the shop at Bethel until about 1865, when Michael McNamara 
came and was there three years. 

Boelcee, Abraham, was the near ancestor of the name in this vicinity. 
He was a deacon in the " Vedder Church " in 1766, Ten years later he and 
his wife deceased, were buried in the cemetery of the old German Reformed 
church about two miles east of Pine Plains, and later removed to the cem- 
etery at the Federal Store. Captain Jacob Bockee, his son, in the early 
years of this century owned and lived on the Samuel Deuel farm in the 
Bethel neighborhood, where he deceased in 1819. He manumitted his 
slave '• Clara, " and her son " Charles aged about two years," November 
25, 1815. He married Catharine, sister to Judge Isaac Smith, of Lithgow, 
and their children were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Phenix ; Margaret, Maria 
and Catharine. Abraham, known in comparatively recent years as 
" Judge Bockee, " married Martha Oakley. Maria married Morgan Car- 
penter, and Catharine married Samuel Deuel. Descendants of each are now 
living in this vicinity bearing the name of their respective husbands. 

Colver — Culver. — The name is in the early annals of North East 
Precinct, Elisha Colver being one of the first. He left descendants, sons 
and daughters. John, one of his sons, was a pioneer school teacher (see 
his " master's name " in Autographs), and later a celebrated Methodist 
preacher. 

Culver, Joshua, (see cut) of this town, son of Joshua, is said to have 
been born in Amenia, March 7, 1775. He married Lavinia Backus, born 
September 20, 1774, in 1797 came to Pine Plains, and on their way from 
Amenia stopped at "Federal Store" at the " Square, " and purchased a por- 
tion of their housekeeping outfit. He was first a tanner at Hammertown, 
and later a farmer and accumulated a property. Deceased at Pine Plains 
in 1848. His wife died in 1845. They had children Almira, Phebe, Backus, 



322 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Eliza, Roxana. All, except Phebe, married and settled in this town and 
adjoining, and have descendants now living in this vicinity. Backus and 
his family were for many years well known residents in this community. 
Walter B., a farmer of Amenia, and Dudley G., a cattle broker in New- 
York, are sons of Backus. 

Cole, Dr. Charles E. , son of Dr. Peter S. Cole, born 1850, studied first 
with his father, attended lectures at Geneva, and graduated at Bellevue 
medical college in New York in 1872. Commenced practice at Jackson 
Corners and Mount Ross, married Clara, daughter of Sylvester Strever, and 
settled in Pinn Plains in 1876. His health failing, he retired from active 
practice in 1881. In the fall of 1883 he was put on the Republican ticket 
for coroner, and elected by about twelve hundred majority, when the Dem- 
ocratic majority on the County ticket was about eight hundred. He de- 
ceased July 23, 1884. Before his decease he started a drug store which his 
widow has continued, and which is known as "Cole's drug store." She 
has an assistant in " Harry," her only child. 

Cole, Ulysses, lawyer, born in 1796, in Hillsdale, in Green River Hol- 
low, now Austerlitz, Columbia County, admitted in 1823 and settled at 
Copake. He came to Pine Plains in 1828 at the solicitation of Charles 
Johnston, a lawyer then located there, and the two formed a copartner- 
ship "Johnston & Cole." This continued until 1832, when Johnston 
moved to Pokeepsie, and two years later (1834) Mr. Cole moved to the same 
place, and did business up to 1882, when he was eighty-five years old, and 
well preserved, physically and mentally. He deceased in Pokeepsie, a 
bachelor. 

Coticli, John, was the first of the name here; he came from New 
Mil ford. His wife was Rhoda Bennett. He was a tailor. Their children 
were Harriet, Clara, Joanna, Sally, Charles, John, Morse. Harriet married 
Justus Boothe ; Clara married James Lillie, Esq. ; Joanna married Elijah 
B. Northrop; Sally married Leonard Husted, son of Peter; Charles mar- 
ried Polly Husted, daughter of Peter and and Polly Husted. John was a 
physician, practiced in Amenia, and later at Great Barrington, Mass., where 
he deceased. Nearly all the above had children, who later married, and 
thus continued the lineage of John Couch the tailor and his wife Rhoda 
Bennett. 

Conch, Charles, son of John, married Polly Husted, daughter of 
Peter, had children Harriet, Morse, Sally, Smith and Fred. Descendants 
of some of these are now residents of the town. 

Clianiberlin, Electus B. , a cabinet maker, came to Pine Plains in 
1821 from Connecticut and worked for Walter Mead. He succeeded Mr. 
Mead in the business in 1827, and in 1830 moved the Mead shop, which 
stood on the present Elizabeth Bostwick dwelling lot, to South Street, next 
north of the Cole drug store where it can be seen now. He continued the 
business here until his sudden decease by the kick of a horse in 1850. 




Joshua Culver. 
[See Lineage.] 



M 



324 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Con kl in. Jeremiah, Jun., from Easthampton in 1781 or '2, was the 

first settler of the northern Amenia and North EastConklins. His wife was 
Elizabeth Miller, and they settled on the farm on Winched Mountain one 
and a half mile west of North East Center. The old house was next 
north of the now Pitcher Corners. His parents were Jeremiah, Sen., and 
Abigail Herriman. She deceased on Long Island in 1780 and her husbandl 
emigrated to "Nine Partners" and lived with his son above until his de- 
cease in 1784. His headstone in Smithfield cemetery says he deceased in 
1785, an error. Their seven children were born on Long Island and mar- 
ried there. Jeremiah, Jun., above, one of them the first settler here, and! 
Elizabeth Miller, had children Jeremiah, Miller, John, (these born on 
-^,ong Island,) Elizabeth, David, Abigail, Jane, Wm. Herriman, Matthias 
H \ ^Barre*, Lucretia, Phebe, these born on the Conklin homestead. Some of 
these sons and daughters intermarried with the contemporaneous Wheeler 
and Clark families of North East and Amenia and have descendants. 

r 

Conklin, Nathan, brother to Jeremiah, Jun., above, emigrated 
from Long Island in 1781, soon after his marriage to Amy Mulford, 
and purchased the now Slee farm two miles west of North East Center 
where their eight children were born. One of these, John H. , succeeded 
to the farm, and is the father of John N. , now a resident of North East, 
and J. Mulford Conklin, now of Stanford, and Mrs. Elizabeth Wilson, of 
Amenia. The late Nathan Conklin of Amenia village, and Isaac H, were 
sons of his. 

Conklin, Eleazer, cousin to Jeremiah, Jun., came from Long Island 
at the same time, 1781, and settled about a mile northeasterly from Jer- 
emiah, Jun., on the farm owned later by Nathan E. Conklin, and recently 
the " Barret farm.'' They had eight children— two sons and six daugh- 
ters. The daughters married and the descendants of some of them are 
living now in the town. Nathan E., the youngest son, succeeded to the 
farm and was for many years a prominent man in that part of the town. 
He had several children, and his son John was the last bearing the name 
of tliis Conklin branch in this town. 

Davis, Dr. Jacob Isaac Hermance, was one of eleven children born 
to Henry Davis, a native of Hesse Cassel, Germany, 1758, and Hannah Smith. 
Charles Philip, several years a freighter on the Harlem Eailroad at Amenia^ 
and Frederick William, cashier of Pine Plains Bank and later cashier of 
Farmers and Manufacturers' Bank in Pokeepsie, were brothers to Dr. Davis, 
above. All the children were born in Red Hook. Dr. Davis read preparatory 
to practice contemporaneous with Peter Guernsey, father of Dr. Guernsey, 
of Amenia, and Benj. S. Wilber, father of Dr. H. C. Wilber, of Pine Plains, 
under the guidance of Dr. Bartlett, then of Red Hook or Milan. He com- 
menced practice at Mount Ross in 1821. In 1826 he married Miss Eliza Cul- 
ver, daughter of Joshua Culver, of Pine Plains, and in 1834 moved to Pine 
Plains, built the dwelling on Church Street, now owned by his daugh- 



LINEAGE. 325 

ter, where he lived until his decease in 1857 in his 58th year. He 
adopted the homeopathic practice then new and much ridiculed by the 
"old practice," but he continued it during his life and with success. He 
deceased from blood poisoning, receiving the virus in a slight wound on the 
left hand while making an autopsy on a deceased from tuberculosis. The 
infection proved fatal at the end of three years of alternate dormancy and 
activity. His urbanity, integrity and sympathy made many friends. His 
widow deceased 1881, aged 73. Their youngest daughter, Ann Eliza, owns 
and occupies the homestead. 

Davis*, Dr. Joshua C. , son of the above, studied medicine, took his 
diploma from the medical college of Castleton, Vermont, in 1847, practiced 
a short time in Pine Plains, emigrated to Galveston, Texas, practiced there 
a short time, from thence to other parts of the state, and later to Mexico 
where he practiced fifteen years. He became eminent in his profession, 
and had an extensive and lucrative practice. He returned to New York 
city to practice, but the climate being too severe for his wife he went to 
Denver, Colorado. He became prominent in his profession. Overwork 
brought on a complication of maladies, and he went to the heart of Eu- 
rope for rest and restoration. He deceased soon after in Zurich, Switzer- 
land. 

Do wising, Jacob, came from the west end of Long Island to north- 
ern Stanford and purchased what has since been known as the "Ezra Hoag 
farm" of Daniel Lewis. His wife was a Smith. Their children were Pol- 
ly, Ann, Eliza, Amy, George, William, Rosetta, and Deborah. Some of 
these married into adjoining or near by families, but no near descendants 
are known now among us. 

Diliblee, Ebenezer. son of Rev. Ebenezer Dibblee, the minister of 
St. John's Church, Stamford, Conn., fifty-one years, came to Pine Plains 
1784. He had been from 1776 to 1781 in business in Sharon, Conn., moved 
from thence to Salisbury in 1782, to Pine Plains in 1784, then North East 
Precinct, opened a store in the log house then standing west of Pine Plains 
corners, on the site of the now Albert Bowman residence, and lived in part of 
the same house. (See cut p. 315.) Augustus Bates, a relative, was for sev- 
eral years a clerk. In 1788 North East Precinct became North East Town, 
and Mr. Dibblee was elected town clerk, and re-elected four years. In 
1793 was Supervisor, in 1795 and 1796 town clerk, and supervisor in 1797 
and 1798. Meantime he continued merchandising, and in 1801 his second 
son Fyler, then twenty one, became a partner under the firm name Ebene- 
zer Dibblee & Son. July 1, 1803, they purchased the present Ketterer Hotel 
property of Dr. Asahel Haskins. The bounds of this purchase is south 
from the corner to Mr. Frank Eno's law office, then easterly about fifteen 
rods, then northerly on the west line of now Peter Wolven dwelling to 
Church Street, containing "three aci-es, one rood and eighteen purchases." 
This land was a portion of six acres which Haskins that day had bought of 



326 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Wm. Cromwell. The remainder of the six acres joined this to the east on 
Church Street. In the spring of 1804, E. Dibblee & Son. Fyler Dibblee be- 
ing the active man, commenced building the hotel Ketterer on the corner, 
Ezra L. Barrett, the boss carpenter, taking the contract. The building was 
completed that year, the painting, not being included in the contract, being 
done in December 1804 and January 1805 for -which Mr. Barrett makes this 
entry: "To 36 days work at painting $34.31. To 6 weeks boarding while 
painting, $9.00." Nathaniel Ruggles was its first keeper, but the sign 
post, an indispensable addendum to taverns, Fyler Dibblee and his father 
had failed to furnish. So, from necessity, landlord Ruggles had to supply 
this deficiency which he did in a wise and becoming manner by permitting 
" Boss " Barrett to give the final stroke. For this merited honor he re- 
cords this modest charge against landlord Ruggles, "Hewing sign post 6s," 
and if the chroniclers of that time have recorded the height of this sign 
post, when set, and what sort of a board and name landlord Ruggles placed 
upon its top, the record nor tradition has not come under our eyes nor into 
our ears. The next year, 1805, Ebenezer Dibblee and Fyler his son built the 
"Bostwick store," now Chase store, under the supervision of Mr. Barrett 
the carpenter. He worked upon it all the year and finished it after E. Dib- 
blee & Son had moved into it in the fall of that year. It was completed 
in January 1806, and Mr. Barrett's bill was $599. 28*. 

In February, 1808, Fyler Dibblee purchased the now Walter T. Myers 
house and store lot of Peter Husted for $319.50, and in that year built the 
brick dwelling thereon, the only brick bouse in the village. Mr. Barrett 
did the carpenter work which is still in good condition, In this year, 1808, 
Ebenezer Dibblee retired from the business firm, and Fyler continued the 
business alone until 1816, when Reuben W. Bostwick, who had been in his 
employ as clerk since about 1812 — except the year 1815 in Albany — became 
a partner under the firm ' 'Fyler Dibblee & Co. " The next year, 1817, the Red 
Hook store was started. (See Bostwick Lineage for this and dissolution in 
1822.) Fyler Dibblee retired from the mercantile business in 1822 and 
moved to the Thompson farm " consisting of 810 acres, " now C. C. More, 
about two miles southwest of the village. In January 1825 a notice ap- 
pears in a Pokeepsie paper that the greater part of the farm will be sold at 
auction on the 17th of February next at the court house in Pokeepsie. Fi- 
nancial embarrassment was the cause. The farm was sold, and Mr. Dib- 
blee moved to New York and opened an office No, 50 Wall Street for com- 
mission business. Two years later, June 11, 1827. he announced that David 
Z. Wickes was his partner, their office being "at the Railway of the New 
York Dry Dock Company on the eastern side of the city." He deceased 
July 13, 1841. He married a daughter of Dr. Wilson, of Clermont, 
and some of his children were born in the brick dwelling, now W. T. 
Myers, one of whom William W. , of New Jersey, was living two years 
since at the age of 86. During his residence in Pine Plains he was a prom- 



LINEAGE. 327 

inent citizen in every regard, and favorably and honorably known through 
out this county and Southern Columbia. He served the town as its clerk 
first in 1803 and '4, again in 1811 and as Supervisor in 1818 and '19, and in 
July 1818 was appointed judge of the court of common pleas in this county, 
having for his associates Daniel C. Ver Plank, Albro Akin and Maturin 
Livingston. Upon his retirement from the mercantile business in 1822 R. 
W. Bostwick and Brothers purchased the stock and assumed the liabilities 
of the firm. It was a heavy indebtedness, but the prudence and wisdom 
•of R. W. Bostwick, principally, the others retiring, disposed of all liabili- 
ties in a few years. Ebenezer Dibblee, after his retirement from mer- 
chandising, devoted his energies to farming on the lands of George Clark, 
on which the log house stood, until his decease Feb. 13, 1826, aged 81. His 
wife, Esther Harvey, deceased July 17, 1843, They were married by his 
father, Rev. Ebenezer Dibblee, at the residence of Joel Harvey his wife's 
father, in Sbaron, Conn., Nov. 14, 1776, who lived in the brick house (More- 
house) on the flat between Sharon and Amenia. March 17, 1«S27, Sally, 
his only surviving sister, deceased at Catskill, in her 71st year. Sally, a 
daughter, deceased at Pine Plains Sept. 10, 1821, aged 37. His children 
were Henry, Fyler, Rhuama Smith, born in Sharon, Conn. ; Frederick, 
born in Salisbury, Conn. ; Sally, Caty, Richard Harvey, Harriet, Eliza, Ma- 
ria Esther, Edward Ebenezer, Cornelia Henrietta, Julia Amelia Ann, born 
in Pine Plains. Harriet married Jacob Van Ness of Red Hook. She de- 
ceased 1813, and he married 2d Rhuama Smith, (widow Stevenson,) who 
deceased 1852. Cornelia married Aaron C. Hall, of Catskill, and have de- 
scendants in New Haven. Caty, or Catharine, married Egbert Thomp- 
son, son of Ezra Thompson, of Federal Square, who with his brother-in- 
law Edward Ebenezer Dibblee were partners in merchandizing at the Fed- 
eral Store, commencing 1815 and dissolving the partnership October 29, 
1817, Mr. Dibblee continuing the business there until 1821, and per- 
haps later. Henry married a Miss Reed of Coxsackie. Fyler and Rich- 
ard married sisters, daughters of Dr. Wilson, of Clermont. Ebenezer 
Dibblee was an Episcopal churchman, and retained his connection with the 
church in Sbaron, Conn., which had received its first ministrations from 
his father, and of which his father-in law, Mr. Joel Harvey, was a leading 
churchman, But during the Revolutionary war the church there was 
used as a barrack, and never used afterward for worship. In 1809 the 
present Episcopal society there was organized, and in 1812 Ebenezer Dib- 
blee, then a resident of Pine Plains (as now organized), in conjunction 
with Reuben Warner of New Milford and Moses Seymour of Litchfield, 
was chosen to select a site for the church building in Sharon, and the 
Episcopal church stands upon the site. A little later, 1815, the "Union 
Meeting House " of Pine Plains was built, in which through the influence 
of the Dibblee family the Episcopalians had a recognized right. (See Pres- 
byterian church, p. 166, and Episcopal church, p. 223.) He may very prop- 



328 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

erly be called the founder of the Episcopal church in Pine Plains. Mr. 
Ebenezer Dibblee deceased February 13, 1826, as hereinbefore noticed, and 
March 14th following his real and personal effects were sold at public ven- 
due. These included the lease of the farm west of the village where he 
lived, then containing one hundred and thirty acres, the site of the now 
Albert Bowman residence, four wood lots of fifteen acres each, thirty-eight 
acres of land, "principally grass land," and the " equal undivided half of 
the hotel, store house, shops, outbuildings and building lots," which com- 
prised the hotel corner property which he and his son Fyler bought as 
partners in 1803. [Note — Reuben W. Bostwick had become the owner of 
Fyler Dibblee's half interest in this property about 1822, and at this sale 
purchased the half interest of Ebenezer Dibblee to the store property, now 
Chase store.] At the same time was sold "all the furniture, household 
utensils, milch cows, young cattle, working horses and* colts, hogs, grain 
on the ground, stacks of hay, farming utensils, &c, of the late Ebenezer 
Dibblee, deceased. The sale will commence at 9 o'clock in the morning, 
and a liberal credit given for good security." A few of the household ar- 
ticles sold at this time are to be found in some dwellings in the town now. 
This sale was the end of all things animate or inanimate pertaining to the 
family of Ebenezer Dibblee in Pine Plains. 

Ueiiton — This name is not identified with the town as early settlers, 
but comes in bj T marriage the name being changed. Thej r first appear in 
the vicinity of now Smith-field. Benjamin Denton 1st, who married Ra- 
chel Wheeler of a family from Holland, is said to have been one of three 
brothers whose lineage runs to Richard Denton the first, a minister who 
came to America about 1640, and settled in Wethersfield, Conn. One of 
these brothers settled in Boston, one on Long Island, and Benjamin above 
at Horse Neck, now Greenwich, where he met the Reynolds and Peck fam- 
ilies. The children of Benjamin 1st and Rachel Wheeler were John, Ben- 
jamin 2d, Sarah, Ann, Rachel. John married, 1st ? had a son named 

Joel, who was an early settler on Morse Hill, east of Smithfield. John 
married, 2d, widow Purdy, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Peck, had 
children Fanny and Rachel. Fanny married Beriah Thomas, a resident of 
Pine Plains, had two daughters. One Zayde married Egbert Smith, has de- 
scendants, and the other, Margaret, married 1st, Andreas Pulver, 2d, Henry 
Myers, both of Pine Plains, and has descendants. Rachel, sister to Fanny 
above, married Jonathan Deuel, of Pine Plains, had children Samuel, Silas, 
Newton, Jay, Rachel. Samuel is the father of Phenix N. Deuel, of Pine 
Plains. 

Benjamin Denton, 2d, married Joanna Peck (of the Greenwich Pecks), 
had children Daniel, Mary. Mary married Stephen Eno, grandfather of W. 
S. Eno and Frank Eno, of Pine Plains. Benjamin Denton 2d deceased in 
1785, aged 49. Of the other children of Benjamin Denton 1st, Sarah mar- 
ried Benjamin Herrick (she deceased 1778 aged 47, he in 1779 aged 46), Ra- 



LINEAGE. 329' 

chel married Stephen Reynolds, Ann married Stephen Buck. Betsey Den- 
ton, the wife of Charles Hoag, a prominent man a hundred years ago in 
this town, was the daughter of James and Deborah Denton, of another 
branch. 

Deuel. Jonathan, was an early resident and lived on a farm in the 
west part of the town. His wife was Rachel Denton. (See Denton. ) They 
had children Samuel, Silas, Newton, Jay, Rachel. Samuel married a daugh- 
ter of Jacob Bockee, and has left descendants, Phenix N. Deuel, now living 
in the town, being one of his sons. Rachel, the daughter above, married 
Nicholas Holbrook, for many years a prominent man and popular mer- 
chant at now North East Center. Newton Holbrook, a merchant in recent 
years at Lithgow, was his son. Rachel Deuel, wife of Jonathan, deceased, 
in 1826, aged 53, and he deceased in 1846, aged 82. They were buried in 
the family cemetery, near the line of Milan and Pine Plains. Another 
Jonathan Deuel and wife Sarah is from another branch of the name. They 
were residents of the town many years. He deceased in 1831, aged 66, and 
she in 1841, aged 75, and were buried in the Knickerbocker cemetery about 
three miles east of the village. 

Dibble, Christopher, was the first immigrant of this name to this lo- 
cality, and is the near ancestor of those bearing the name now. He came 
from East Hampton, Long Island, in 1782, and settled on the now Samuel 
Titus farm in northern Stanford, bringing his wife and six children with 
him. They were Isaiah, Lewis, Abraham, Mary, Elizabeth, Isaac. Isaiah 
is the line of all the name now. His wife was Jerusha Hedges, and their 
children Gustavus, Harriet, Phebe, Jerusha, Abraham. Gustavus married 
Gertrude Winans, and were the parents of the popular merchants Isaiah 
(See cut p. 204) and Edward Dibble, now and for several years past doing 
business in Pine Plains. Harriet married Reuben W. Bostwick, whose son 
Reuben was the father of Fred, William, and J. Hunting Bostwick, now 
doing business in the village. (See Bostwick lineage.) Phebe married John 
Ferris and were the parents of the wife of the late Oliver Booth, of 
Pokeepsie. Jerusha was the wife of Samuel Huntting, the parents of the 
late Dr. Isaac M. Huntting, and his brother Lewis D. Huntting, now de- 
ceased, and well known in this community. Their youngest brother Rich- 
ard, and only survivor of this family — the three brothers were all the chil- 
dren — is living in London, England. Abraham retained the farm of his 
father Isaiah, in the south part of the town, now owned by Samuel Tanner. 
He married Miss Jane Dakin and had two sons and two daughters. Mr. 
Fred Dibble of Amenia Union and Mr. Frank Dibble of Stanford are 
his sons. Isaiah Dibble, Sen. , above, had a daughter Emily by a second 
wife, who married Henry Bostwick, a popular man and merchant over 
fifty years since at the City Corners, east of Smithfield church. Their 
daughter married Mr. John N. Conklin, now living near there, and their 
son — only two children — Charles Edward, is now living in Duluth, Minn. 



330 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

These children of Isaiah Dibble settled not far from the paternal home- 
stead. The Dibble family cemetery is on the Christopher, now Samuel Ti- 
tus farm, and contains more family genealogy than any family yard in 
this vicinity. It is surrounded by an iron fence, and the headstones are 
well preserved and in good condition. The interests of the descendants, 
however, have been transferred to the public cemeteries. 

Elmemlorpli, Cornelius Coonrad, was the first hotel keeper on the 
Stissing House corner. His grandparents, Cornelius Elmendorph and 
wife Angletie, were from Holland, and settled on the Hudson at Kingston. 
He deceased in 1790, she in 1788, and they were buried at "Esopus. " 
Coonrad C, a son of his. was born August 6, 1726, deceased at Kingston, 
1816, on his anniversary birthday, aged 90. His wife Garritje deceased at 
Kingston 1805, aged 77. Cornelius C, his son, the hotel keeper above, and 
Rachel Cryspell were married at Hurley in 1778, by Dominy Duel, of Kings- 
ten. Their children were Leah, born at Hurley June 8, 1779, baptised 22d, 
Peter Cryspell and Leah Cryspell sponsors. Garritje, "2d daughter," was 
born at "North East" September 20, 1781, baptised October 15, in the 
Manor of Livingston by Rev. Dominy Livingston, Coonradt C. Elmen 
dorph and Garritje Elmendorph, sponsors. Anthony, born at "North 
East" December 17, 1783, baptised January 25th, by Dominy Duel, 
Anthony Cryspell and Widow Mary Newkirk sponsors. [Note. — This 
Anthony, eldest, deceased at Pine Plains April 3, 1793, "half after two 
o'clock in the morning, and was buried on Thursday 4th inst. in the 
burying ground at the church near now Tise Smith's, aged nine years 
and three montbs and sixteen days." This is the "Round Top "ceme- 
tery at Bethel. This was the only burial there of this family, and 
the head stone is there now.] Thomas born at " North East " July 23, 
1786, baptised at "Esopus" September 10, 1786. by Dominy Duel. Thom- 
as Van Gasbeck and his wife Arrantie Elmendorph, sponsors. James 
born September 26, 1788, at "North East," baptised October 26, 1788, by 
Dominy Cock, East Camp, Peter Dumond and his wife Rebecca Elmen- 
dorph, living at Esopus, sponsors. Maria, born at 'North East" April 7, 
1791, baptised July 3, 1791, by Dominy Cock, Abraham Cryspell and his 
wife Maria Van Wagner, sponsors. Anthony "4th son," born January 25, 
1794, baptised by Dominy Duel at "Esopus" April 13th. Peter Newkirk 
and Leah Elmendorph, sponsors. [Note. — This Peter Newkirk and Leah 
Elmendorph his wife, in 1802 kept the Elmendorph hotel on the Stissing 
corner.] Jane Ann, " our fourth daughter," was born at "Rhynebeck" 
January 10, 1797, baptised March 12, 1797, by Dominy Romine at Red 
Hook, Samuel Elmendorph and wife Jane Ann Van Benthousen, sponsors. 
"Capt." Cornelius C. Elmendorph kept the hotel fifteen years. He 
held many offices of trust, and in all respects was an honorable and worthy 
citizen. He and family had moved to Rhinebeck in 1796, Ebenezer Bald- 
win succeeding to the hotel, and later moved to Kingston where his wife 
deceased April 13, 1825, aged 71, and he February 20, 1826, at the same age. 



LINEAGE. 331 

Knglekee. Henry, born in Germany 1812, emigrated from thence 
to America in 1836 and to Pine Plains in 1838. He was an accomplished 
cabinet maker, having served the full time of apprenticeship in Germany, 
and commenced work here for Electus B. Chamberlin then in that business, 
which later he continued on his own account, adding to it furniture. About 
1854 he introduced the hearse and the "undertaking," when the casket 
took the place of the coffin. He at one time had charge of the cemetery, 
and besides set out many trees which now adorn the streets in the village. 
Mr. Engiekee was a German of pronounced type, affectionate in the family, 
in the shop business. He watched himself, he watched others. "Er be- 
half seimen kopf zusammen. " He keeps his head together. He deceased 
at his home 1894, aged 82. His wife, Christine Von Eckel deceased 
1882. They left eight children. 

Eno, Stephen, (see cut p. 259,) the ancestor of the families of that 
name in Pine Plains, was born in Simsbury, Conn., October 4, 1764. His 
great grandfather, James Eno, or Enos as it was probably written, emi- 
grated from England about 1675, and settled in Windsor, Conn. His wife's 
name was Abigad Bissell, and to them were born nine children, five sons and 
four daughters. William, the second son in the line of descent, deceased at 
Simsbury, Conn., about 1764, possessed of a valuable farm which at his 
deatli came into possession of his two sons, William and Samuel. There 
were also in this family six sisters to these brothers, and by some cause 
division or otherwise, this estate passed from them, and they were left as 
thousands are to fight the battle of life without pecuniary aid. Here, under 
such circumstances, Stephen Eno was born. William his father subse- 
quently moved to Salisbury, where he died and was buried in the Moravian 
burying yard at the Wecquadnoc mission near Sharon. His wife was 
Lillie Hix. 

[Note. — This William Enos — it is written with a terminal s — was one 
of the thirty-four signers to a petition to the Moravian board of Bethlehem, 
Pa., in May 1752, to have them send back Rev. Abraham Reinke, who had 
preached in Salisbury and Sharon the year before, or some one else "to set- 
tle among us . . . we being destitute of a minister and school." An- 
other signer to this petition, thirty years later a prominent resident of Pine 
Plains, was John Harris.] 

Stephen was the second son — there were four sons and one daughter 
in this family — and his early life is best told in his own language written 
about 1805: 

"I spent my infant years (until ten years of age) at home in my fath- 
er's house in Simsbury. Until that age I never went abroad out of the 
neighborhood, and was taught to read by my father at home, having no 
advantage of a school. I think I did not attend any kind of a school, so 
much as a week till after this age, and I will here mention that in the 
whole course of my life I have never been to school two months. At ten 
years of age I went to live with my aunt Abigail Westover and her son 



332 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Josiah Westover, of Egremont, in Massachusetts. Here I continued until 
between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and fared very hard most of 
the time. My greatest grief was that I had now no opportunity to improve 
jn learning, and my father when at home had taught me to read so well 
that I had formed very elevated ideas of a good education. I did most ar- 
dently wish for the privilege of attending school with boys of my age 
whom I saw daily going. This turn of thought has I think had a consider- 
able influence upon my future life, for all the learning I possess I have ac- 
quired altogether myself from books without the assistance of any teacher." 

He left his aunt, visited his mother, who was then living in Salisbury, 
worked a year for an old man by the name of Chipman, spent six months 
in the army then in camp at New Haven, and at eighteen engaged with 
one Sanders, a tanner, at Cornwall, Conn. , with whom he remained until 
he was twenty-one. " When I first began to cypher," he writes, "I was 
eighteen or nineteen years of age, and the first book I took up was an old 
work called Corker's arithmetic. With this book I got on as far as division. 
This rule I could not master, and I laid by the book almost in despair. Soon 
after this I got Fenning's arithmetic, in which the rules are illustrated by 
an operation at large of several examples in each rule, and never shall I for- 
get the pleasure I enjoyed in being able to perform all that was there laid 
down. No man ever went to a feast with more eagerness, or left it with so 
much satisfaction as I in pursuing this study. I now began to be con- 
scious of powers unknown to me before." 

At this age — twenty-one — he commenced teaching school, which busi- 
ness he continued barring short intervals for seven years, principally in 
Amenia. He was also commissioner of schools there. 

At the age of twenty-seven he entered the law office of Philip Spencer, 
Jr. , of North East, as a clerk, who had now been licensed as an attorney 
for about two years. "He offered to give me instruction gratis," writes 
Mr. Eno, "and his father (Philip Spencer, Esq.) who was anxious to have 
me come, promised to board me and wait for his payment until after I was 
licensed. I accordingly upon these terms began the study of law, and 
boarded with the old man. But I had not been with him more than two 
months when the old man began to dun me for pay, which vexed me so 
that I contrived to pay him and never boarded with him again." 

In his preparatory studies to admittance to practice in the Supreme 
Court, Mr. Eno writes : 

"My preceptor (Philip Spencer, Jr.) was very ill qualified for a teacher, 
and had but a scanty library, and did very little business. I verily believe 
he never spent two hours in giving me any kind of instructions in his life, 
and after the first two months I was scarce ever in his office. I kept school 
part of the time and pleaded causes before justices of the peace for a liveli- 
hood. Was about three weeks with Mr. Reeves at Litchfield, and as long 
a time afterwards in Ambrose Spencer's office, and at the end of four years 



LINEAGE. 333 

obtained a license to practice in the Supreme Court. To obtain this license 
it was necessary for me to produce a certificate from some attorney that 1 
had studied in his office three years at least. To obtain this I was com- 
pelled to give Philip Spencer, Jr., my note for one hundred and fifty dol- 
lars, in direct violation of his former agreement, the payment of which 
afterward greatly embarassed me, and prevented me for several years from 
getting into business, for I was so poor that I could get no books." 

December 17, 1795, he was married, by Rev. John Cornwall, to Mary 
Denton, daughter of Benjamin Denton and Joanna Peck, of the town of 
Amenia. "She was prudent and industrious," he writes, "and after some 
time my business in the law began to increase. I always lived and prac- 
ticed in the county, in the towns of Amenia, Stanford and North East." 

In 1803 he purchased a house and lot in Pine Plains, and made that place 
his residence. Sept. 5, 1807, his wife deceased, was buried at Smithfield, 
and he makes this touching allusion to her memory: "She was a lovely 
and excellent woman, and the twelve years which I lived with her were by 
far the happiest period of my life. " As a lawyer he exalted his profession 
in that he magnified the law. It was no claptrap, or technicality in prac- 
tice. That to him was odious. He looked to a higher standard based on 
the immutable foundation of justice. For this he fought against precedent 
and legal enactment. In his make up of mind and habit he was of the 
Jeffersonian school, where reason sits supreme. At seventy-three he 
writes: " I think I do not dread death more than common men. It is a 
necessary end, and I hope for another and better existence. I like old Mil- 
ton's advice : ' Nor love thy life, nor hate, but whilst thou liv'st live well ; 
how long or short permit to Heaven. ' I feel grateful to God for the meas- 
ure of health and strength which is lent me, and for the many comforts 
which yet continue to smooth the path of life." Such was Stephen Eno, 
the rough ashlar, born over a hundred years ago, and could the opportu- 
nities of a hundred years later have been thrown around him, who can 
doubt that he would have been the perfect ashlar, a polished stone in the 
temple of jurisprudence. He deceased in 1854 in his 90th year. 

In the early days of his law practice in Pine Plains he was engaged in a 
suit before Henry I. Traver, a justice of the peace, wherein one Isaac 
Hutchins, a miller, was defendant. Mr. Eno was annoyed and disgusted 
with the rulings of Esquire Traver, and indulged in some sharp talk of a 
personal nature, for which Traver fined him twelve shillings. Mr. Eno 
promptly paid the fine at once saying, "There, take that, and buy you a 
pair of shoes," the 'Squire then being without these pedal coverings. 
Hutchins was at that time miller at the Phineas Carman Mills near Shaca- 
meco. Later he leased the mills at Bangall for five years of Mr. Duncan. 
Stephen Eno came to Pine Plains from "Old Attlebury" Corners, Stanford, 
about one mile west of Stissing (whither he had moved from ' ' The City " 
now Smithfield, in 1799) in 1803, having purchased the dwelling property 



334 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

next south of now Frank Eno law office, of Isaac Basset. (Note. — On page 
260 it is William Bassett, an error.) In 1806 he built the barn. In 1814 he 
built his office building at a cost of $300, which is part of the now Frank 
Eno law office. It was used by William Eno during his life. Rufus Bost- 
wick was the carpenter builder. The old sign " S. Eno's office " which was 
on this law office for a half century was made in 1810, and is now in pos- 
session of Frank Eno, his grandson. 

Stephen Eno's children were, Phebe and Eliza, twins deceased in in- 
fancy; Henry, William, Edward, and a son Rufus by his second wife, who 
was at one time a harness maker at Pine Plains. Henry, "Harry," was 
born at Old Attlebury Corners, Stanford, in 1798, studied law in his father's 
office in Pine Plains, later with Philip Parker, Albany, went to Penn Yan, 
N. Y., in 1825, formed a partnership with David Prosser which continued 
until 1836, then sold out and went to Madison, Wisconsin. Here he mar- 
ried Miss Elisabeth Knapp, formerly from Orange County, N. Y., moved to 
Iowa, and in 1849 was in command of an overland train to Califor- 
nia. Here he became prominent, was elected Judge of Circuit Court 
in Calaveras County, was nominated for lieutenant governor of the 
state and was defeated by a very few votes. He lived in California twenty- 
two years, meantime buried his wife and onlv child Carrie, aged about 
seven years. He returned to Pine Plains in 1871, and deceased at his 
nephew's, Walter Eno, on the now " Broad Valley Farm" in 1882, aged 84. 

F>«a«>. William, (see cut p. 271,) son of Stephen, was born at Old Attle- 
bury " Corners, Stanford, in 1800, studied law with his father at Pine 
Plains, and was a prominent and successful lawyer at the Pokeepsie courts 
for many years. The Pokeepsie Journal of March 22, 1826, has this notice : 

"William Eno, 

Attorney and counselor at law in the Supreme Court will attend to ap- 
plications in the business of his profession at his residence in the village of 
Pine Plains. 

March 14th, 1826. 

This was about the commencement of his practice, and the counsel and 
advice of his father no doubt contributed greatly to his success. By his 
aid he was the victor in many long contested suits involving nice legal dis- 
tinctions. After careful examination in such cases his father would say, 
" Stick, William, it must be right," and his advice in the end was proven 
to be correct. He was attorney for Duchess County two terms by appoint- 
ment of the Supreme Judges, was elected to the legislature in 1836, and 
Supervisor several terms. He deceased in 1874. His wife was Mary, 
daughter of William Stewart, and they had four children. 

Eno, Edward, son of Stephen, was an infant of about eight months 
at his mother's decease. When a young man he moved to Kinderhook, N. 



LINEAGE. 335 

Y. , where later he married Best, moved to Illinois, was a merchant, 

and later moved to St. Louis. Had four children, three sons and one 
daughter. Three of the sons were in the war of the rebellion, two being 
majors. 

I'jiio, William S., son of William, was born in Pine Plains, studied 
law, was admitted in 1850, and was an able and highly esteemed counselor 
by the Duchess County Bar fraternity. He was president of the Stissing 
Bank several years (see Stissing Bank.) A few years since he inaugurated 
the "Bunnell & Eno Investment Company," with headquarters at Pine 
Plains, he being its president. It remained here about two yeai's, then 
moved to and established an office in Philadelphia, where it is now (April 
1897) doing business. Mr. Eno moved there and is its president and prin- 
cipal manager. 

Eno, Walter, son of William, was a farmer and lived on the farm 
where his " Uncle Harry" deceased, as heretofore mentioned. He was 
universally much esteemed. He married Phebe Case, daughter of John 
Case, and has a son and daughter now living. James, the son, is a furni- 
ture dealer in Wichita, Kansas. Walter Eno deceased a few years since 
and his widow and daughter are living in the village. 

Eno, Frank, (see cut page 208,) youngest son of William Eno, was 
born in Pine Plains, studied law and was admitted in 18(38. From that 
time to now he has continued the practice, occupying and owning the 
Wm. Eno homestead property, and the old law office. In addition to his 
professional duties he has a large farm one and a half miles south of the 
village, devoted principally to dairy purposes. He a few years since gave 
considerable attention to the Jersey breed of cattle and took several premi- 
ums. His wife w r as Rachel Rudd, daughter of Charles Rudd, and they 
have several children. Parents and children are now living in the William 
Eno village homestead. 

Finch, James, was an early settler on the now Smith Sackett home 
on the north line of Stanford, three and a half miles south of Pine Plains. 
He came from Horse Neck, (Greenwich, Conn.) He had children Joseph, 
Lizzie, Nathan, Mary, Charlotte. 

Frazier family — colored people — so numerous and well known in 
this part of " North East Town" in the first half of this century, descended 
from a white man, a Scotchman by that name. Andrew, the first of the 
name, is said to have been born in Amenia June 14, 1743. He was in the 
revolutionary war from its commencement to its end in 1783, and received 
a pension through the influence of Judge Stephen Thorne, of Milan. An- 
drew settled in Milan about two miles south of Jackson Corners, and it was 
his home until his decease, June 2, 1846, he lacking twelve days of com- 
pleting his one hundred and three years. This farm which he cleared (it 
was woods) for a home is now owned by his grandson, Alfred Frazier, son 
of Robert. The house was built about 1809. Andrew Frazier had sons 



336 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Adam, John, Andrew and Robert. His daughters who married were Cath- 
arine married George Lewis, Tempe married Thomas Rowe, (lived in Ame- 
nia,) Lena married Robert Tyler. Four other daughters never married. The 
sons of Adam, son of Andrew 1st, were Edward, James. Sons of John, 
son of Andrew 1st, were Filo, Andrew, William. Sons of Andrew, son of 
Andrew 1st, Edward, Milton, Walter, Charles A., Jacob, John. Sons of 
Robert, son of Andrew 1st, Egbert, Robert, Jacob, Alfred, Lewis. Of these 
Alfred and Lewis were the only ones living in 1889. The three other 
brothers were buried in the family burial ground on the farm not far from 
the ancestral dwelling in Milan, and headstones neatly inscribed stand at 
their respective graves. The head-stone to Andrew the ancestor stands at 
the head of his grave and reads "In memory of Andrew Frazier who died 
June 2d, 1846, aged 102 years, 11 mos. and 18 days." 

Some members of these Frazier families intermarried with a family 
called May, of pure Indian lineage of the Mohican Shacomeco clan, and 
proprietors of the lands in this vicinity. Mannessah, Indian name, was a 
"medicine man," had a son and daughter, and they claimed to be the last 
of this tribe of pure blood Indian. Joanna, so called, the daughter, mar- 
ried a man named May, They had two daughters, half blood, who respect- 
ively worked for Mrs. Reuben W. Bostwick and Mrs. William Eno. Isaac 
Smith, Esq,, who lived about a mile north of Hoffman's Mills, had a house 
near his dwelling in which Joanna lived until her decease. She is author- 
ity that three chiefs of her tribe or clan were buried on the east side of now 
Pine Street in the village near the old pine tree now standing there. The 
mounds of these graves were plainly to be seen years ago, and to that ex- 
tent corroborate her tradition. (See Pine Tree Lineage. ) 

Her brother called "Prince" — Mannessah, Indian name — lived about a 
half mile north of Hoffman's Mills to the right of the road near the boun- 
dary line between Duchess and Columbia Counties. He acquired knowl- 
edge of the Indian medical practice by herbs and roots, from his Indian 
ancestry, and applied it whenever called upon. In derision the regular 
medical profession called him a " quack," and his medicines "quack med- 
icine. " Patrons of the regular profession and others used the epithet freely 
and so he was universally known as "Prince Quack." He had a son An- 
dreas, " Dris," named for a good white friend, (Andreas Pulver,) who mar- 
ried and had children, sons and daughters. One or more of these sons emi- 
grated to Michigan and settled near Grand Rapids. The old man Prince 
Quack went with them — they retained the name Quack — and in the '60s he 
was living, his hair white, his teeth gone, and his yellow face marked with 
deep wrinkles when I last saw him there. He did not know the year of his 
birth, but he must have been in or near the '90s, perhaps had turned for 
the hundred point. Some descendants of this Manessah family now live in 
the town of Washington, near Millbrook. 

Gamble, Isaac, was the first of the name in North East Precinct 



LINEAGE. 337 

according to the records having emigrated, so it is said, from West- 
chester County about 1772. Feb, 3, 1774, he gave a bill of sale to David 
Bostwick. He is thought to be the father of Elizabeth, John, Mary, Isa- 
bella and Hugh, but this may not be correct. Isabella married Seth Har- 
ris and Mary married John Harris. (See Harris Scythes, and Harris Lin- 
eage.) 

Gamble, Hugh — written Gambey and Gamby, a corruption — was in 
North East Precinct in 1786 and then commenced an apprenticeship at 
scythe making under John Harris, the maker of the Harris scythes. Har- 
ris was his brother-in-law, baving married his sister Mary about 1772. 
Later on he was partner. (See Harris Scythes. ) He married Anna Van 
Louven, a family of early settlers (1770-1780) in North East Precinct, and 
they bad children Isaac, Betsey, Sally, Harriet, Laura, James H., Seth. 
Hugh, the father, was killed on new year's day by accident near the farm 
of now Henry Knickerbocker, being thrown from a load of cord wood, fall- 
ing in front of the wood, the horses kicking him. Three years later (1817) 
the widow and children emigrated to Yates County, N. Y. , and settled 
near Penn Yan. (Note — This year and near it a considerable number from 
Pine Plains emigrated to Yates County, " went to the west" as it was said 
then.)' Isaac the eldest son had worked at scythe making in the Harris 
shops at Pine Plains and Salisbury and was an expert workman, not only 
.at scythes but other things. He married Mary Sears, of Connecticut. 
John Durfee, a brother workman of his, emigrated with him to Yates 
County, and they started a scythe factory near Penu Yan where they 
worked from 1818 to 1822, then sold and moved to Sodus on Lake Ontario 
where Isaac Gamby deceased, leaving a widow and two daughters, Emily 
and Mary. His widow married, 2d, John Weed, of Benton township. 
Yates County. Isaac Gamble and Durfee were celebrated ax makers also. 
It is said each made sixteen axes in one day with the ordinary fire and tools 
of a blacksmith, each having a man to help. 

Of the other children of Hugh Gamble above, Betsey married Solomon 
D. Weaver, Sally married William D. Lucas, Harriet married William A. 
Weed, Laura married Daniel S. Lee and moved to Michigan ; James H. 
married Elisabeth French, and was at one time engaged with John H. 
Lapham in the drug business in Penn Yan, and later went to Branchport. 
Seth moved to Steuben County and settled there. Hugh Gamble the first 
"was town clerk of old North East Town in 1799, and his name on the 
record as he wrote it was "Gamble," which his descendants in Yates Coun- 
ty have corrupted into Gamby. Daniel S. Lee, the husband of Laura Gam- 
ble above, was the son of James Lee, born in 1780, and in 1803 married 
Sarah, the only daughter of Richard Smith, of Groton, Conn., and Elisa- 
beth Allen, a descendent of a family on the Mayflower. Richard Smith 
was a Quaker, and became early identified with the Friends Society of 
which Jemima Wilkinson, the "Universal Friend," was the leader. This 



338 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

society made a "New Jerusalem" township in Yates County and hither 
went Richard Smith and others with their families from Connecticut of 
like faith about 1789. He built the first grist mill in the new settlement 
of which he made a record in his family bible in this manner: "4th of July 
1790, I have this day completed my grist mill and have ground ten bush- 
els of rye. July 5th, I have this day ground ten bushels of wheat, the 
same having been raised in the immediate neighborhood last year." 
(1789.) He left his wife and children in Connecticut when he went 
to Yates County, the friendly women keeping house for him in the 
early years of his settlement. His children in Connecticut were Russell, 
David and Jonathan, twins; Avery and Sarah. Russell deceased in Con- 
necticut, Jonathan Drowned in a tan vat. Avery when about fourteen 
left the Connecticut homestead, found his way to his father, applied for 
work and his father hired him not knowing who he was. By his influence 
the family was later reunited in Yates County, the father and mother spend- 
ing their last days with their son Avery, where the father deceased in 
1836 aged 90, and his wife in 1838, aged 84. David the other son, born in 
1778, went with the family to Yates County, where he deceased in 1805. 
Avery, the youngest son, was a very prominent man, had the rank of 
Colonel in 1812, and was elected to the Assembly from Yates County 1826. 
He married a daughter of David Wagener and they had twelve children, 
through whom he has many descendents. 

Betsey Gamble, above, married Solomon D. Weaver in 1820. She was 
born in 1800. He was born near Saratoga Springs in 1797, and emigrated 
when a young man to Penn Yan, and worked at cloth dressing in the 
"Factory Mill," then owned by a company syndicate. Later he moved to 
the outlet of Keuka Lake, built a saw mill and grist mill in company with 
George Shearman and manufactured lumber and flour. The grist mill had 
three run of stone. Later this firm added two distilleries, and soon after 
was nearly bankrupt. Later in 1832 he, Weaver, bought a lot of timber 
land near by, and engaged largely in the timber and lumber business, and 
accumulated a competency for his old age after a life of hard labor and 
anxious care. His wife Betsey deceased in 1862, leaving four sons and one 
daughter. He married, 2d, Mrs. Julia L. Righter, of Lakeville, Conn, who 
deceased in 1870. 

Gray, Ambrose T. , son of Richard, a well-known resident, lived on 
the west side of Winchell Mountain, about two miles south of Pulver's 
Corners. He was of English lineage, born January 24, 1788, deceased May 
23, 1859. Married Almira, daughter of Caleb and Deborah Finch, Oct. 28, 
1818. She deceased Oct. 18, 1864. They had five girls and thi - ee boys, who 
have descendents. 

Graham — Marquis of Montrose. It is not among the common inci- 
dents in the divinity which shapes the end of the world's civilization and 



LINEAGE. 339 

government, that the small inland town of Pine Plains, in Duchess County, 
N. Y. , had among its earliest settlers the descendents of Montrose* of Scot- 
land, "The Great Marquis." The Grahams were the founders of our beau- 
tiful village, and this it is that gives a peculiar and special historic interest 
to the name and family as part of our town history. 

According to historians and antiquaries, the Grahams are lineally de- 
scended from the ancient kings of the Britons, who in the third century 
attempted to free themselves from the Romans, then the rulers of England. 
Fulgentius, the leader against the Romans, and his followers were impris- 
oned and fled to Donald, King of the Scots, and subsequently, after the 
battle of Dun in 404, to Denmark. Among these refugees was a descend- 
ant of Fulgentius, named Graeme, whose daughter, born in Denmark, in 
course of time married King Fergus second, of Scotland. After the death 
of the King, Graeme was regent of the kingdom during the minority of his 
grandson, and greatly harrassed the Britons, and it is said, broke over the 
walls of Abercorn, which was thereafter called " Graham's Dyke." Many 
notable events followed in the history of the name until 1030, when Con- 
stantine Gramie — modern Graham — married Avila, daughter to Kenneth, 
one of the ancestors of the house of Stewarts. 

In 1125 William DeGraham is witness to the foundation charter of 
Holy-Rood -House, in the reign of David first, and David his son got char- 
ters of land in Forfarshire, in the reign of King William of Scotland, and 
the family subsequently got further charters of lands in the reigns of Kings 
Alexander Second and Third. In all these charters the surname of Gra- 
ham is inserted. The lands of Abercorn descended to Margaret Graham, 
who married James, brother to the Earl of Douglass in the reign of James 
the First. 

For several centuries there were two distinguished branches of the 
family, respectively in John De Graham and David De Graham, which 
finally became united, and Sir Patrick De Graham, of Kincardine, in the 
reign of King Robert Third, married the only daughter and heiress of Da- 
vid, Earl of Strathearn, by which marriage he obtained to that earldom. 
Of this his son Malise was deposed by King James the First, who, in 1328, 
gave him in lieu the earldom of Monteith. This the family held for nine 
generations, when William Graham, the ninth Earl of Monteith, having 
no issue, the earldom descended to the Marquis of Montrose, another 
branch of the family, whose ancestor was created Baron Graham in 1445, 
and Earl of Montrose in 1505, and Marquis of Montrose in 1644. 

James Graham — known and called the "Great Marquis" — was the first 

*Mr. George Coventry, of Utica, N. Y., a descendant of the Grahams formerly living in 
this town, has a family tree of the Grahams which traces the Pine Plains branch from the 
present living members, in a direct line to the eleventh century. He has also many family 
relics and papers, among which is the seal of "The Great Marquis' 1 — Montrose — now 
nearly two hundred and fifty years old. To him I am indebted for the perusal of many pa- 
pers in manuscript, pertaining to the family during their settlement in this town, and to 
his '•tree" for many facts in regard to the genealogy of the family. 



340 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Marquis of Montrose, and occupies the most conspicuous place in the his 
tory of the Grahams. He was born in 1(512, in the town of Montrose, mar- 
ried at seventeen, Magdalene, daughter of Lord Carnegie of Kiunaird, on 
which occasion he had his portrait painted by Jameson, the pupil of Van 
Dyck. (A fine photograph, enlarged from a small copy, said to have been 
taken from this portrait, I now have. It was taken from a copy of the 
one in Warwick Castle, said to be a copy of the original Van Dyck por- 
trait, or perhaps the original. He had curly, reddish auburn hair. See 
cut p. 18.) In 1038, at the age of twenty-four, he espoused the cause of the 
Scotch Covenanters, and was one of the four noblemen who drew up the 
"National covenant" in the spring of that year, and took arms against the 
royalists or high church party. 

The struggle in the north terminating, he with other Scottish Cove- 
nantry noblemen, by invitation, met King Charles at Berwick, where and 
when, it is said, the Great Marquis becarne disaffected toward the Cov- 
enanters, and became the object of obloquy. Upon his door was posted a 
paper with the words. " Invictus armis, r< rbis vin&tur." (Invincible with 
arms, conquered with words. ) This was in 1639. In the wars following 
he was charged with being at times with loyalists and covenanters, and in 
1641 abandoned the covenanters and joined the King. In 1644, Charles 
having conferred upon him the title of Marquis, he left Oxford, where he 
had been living with the King, and went to Scotland to raise the royalists 
of the north. Argyle in behalf of the covenanters endeavored in vain to 
capture him, Montrose meantime greatly harrassing the covenanters, and 
even driving Argyle from his castle at Inverary. Success attended the 
arms of Montrose against the covenanters, and Charles was triumphant. 
But it was for a moment. Desertion — probably the result of religious be- 
lief or opinion — reduced the army of Montrose, and disaster and defeat fol- 
lowed. Montrose fled to Paris, then to Germany, then to Holland, and 
meanwhile Charles I was beheaded. Montrose then made favor with 
Charles II, and in his behalf began a fresh invasion. He was defeated by 
Col. Strachan at the pass of Invercaron, and wandered up the river Kyle, 
the whole ensuing night, and the following second and third days without 
food. The Earl of Kinnoul was with him, and not able to travel further 
was left in the mountain, and it is supposed perished. Montrose came to 
the country of Assynt and gave himself up to one McLeod, a former ad- 
herent, from whom he expected assistance. But " the Argyle faction had 
sold the King, so this Highlander rendered his own name infamous by sell- 
ing the hero to the Covenanters, for which ' duty to the public ' he was re_ 
warded with four hundred bolls of meal." 

"A traitor sold him to his foes." 

McLeod delivered him to General Leslie, who brought him to Edin- 
burgh, where he was condemned as a traitor to the Covenanters. 

THE EXECUTION. 

Montrose in Edinburgh, " a traitor" in the hands of the stern and ex- 



LINKAGE. 341 

asperated Covenanters, had little chance Eot defence, and less hope of es- 
cape. Sis execution was the inevitable consequence of his capture. It 
was the character of the times. Neither party was disposed to lenity. On 
Friday, May 17, 16")0, the Scotch Parliament passed the "Act ordaining 
James Grahame to be brought from the Watergate on a cart bareheaded, 
the hangman in his livery, covered, riding on the horse that draws the 
cart — the prisoner t<> be hound to the cart with a rope — to the Tolbooth of 
Edinburgh, and from thence to lie brought to the Parliament House, and 
there in the place of delinquents on his knees to receive his sentence, via, : 
to be hanged on a gibbett at the cross of Edinburgh, with Ins book and dec- 
laration tied about his neck, and there to hang for the space of three hours 
until he be dead, and thereafter to be cut down by the hangman, his head, 
hands, and legs to be cut off and distributed as follows, viz. : his head to be 
affixed on an iron pin, and set on the pinnacle of the west gavel of the new 
prison of Edinburgh, one hand to be set on the port of Perth, the other on 
tli'- port of Stirling, one leg and foot on the port of Aberdeen, the other on 
the port of Glasgow. If at his death penitent and relaxed from excommu- 
nication, then the trunk of his body to be interred by pioneers in the Grey- 
friars, otherwise to be interred in the Boroughmuir by the hangman's men 
under the gallows. (Note — This sentence was executed to the letter.) 

Montrose was in prison, and when informed of his sentence said "that 
he was piGuder to have his head placed upon the top of the prison, than if 
they had decreed a golden statue to be erected to him in the market place, 
or that his picture should be hung in the King's bedchamber. He thanked 
them for their care to preserve the remembrance of his loyalty by trans- 
mitting such monuments to the different parts of the kingdom; and only 
wished that he had flesh enough to have sent a piece to every city in Chris- 
tendom as a token of his unshaken love and fidelity to his king and 
country." 

On the window of his Tnison, the night before his execution, he in- 
scribed these lines with a diamond: 

" Let them bestow on every airth a limb, 

Then open all my veins, that I may swim 

To Thee, my JJaker, in that crimson lake; 

Tin n place my parboiled head upon a stake- — 

Scatter my ashes — strew them in the air: 

Lord, since thou knowest where all these atoms are, 

I am hopeful Thou'lt recover once my dust, 

And confident Thou'it raise me with the just."* 
May 21, 1650 came, the fourth day after the passage of the act for his 
execution, and thousands lined the street of Edinburgh through which he 
was to pass. In the center of the cart was a high chair, having holes be- 
hind, through which the ropes that fastened him were drawn. 

*After the restoration the " dust ' of Montrose was recovered, the scattered remains 
collected, and the bones of the hero conveyed to their final resting place by a numerous 
assemblage of gentlemen of his family and name. — Aj/toun. 



342 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

He was "pale and wan," and seemed to have a courage and modesty 
more than natural. " He was very richly clad in fine scarlet, laid over with 
rich silver lace, his hat in his hand, his hands and cuffs exceedingly rich, 
his delicate white gloves on his hands, his stockings of incarnate silk, and 
his shoes with their ribbons on his feet, and sarks provided for him with 
pearling about, above ten pounds the elne. All these were provided for 
him by his friends, and a pretty cassock put on him upon the scaffold." 

His mien and bearing on bis way to the scaffold, it is said, changed 
the curses of many to tears. The " infamous " Lady Jean Gordon, Countess 
of Haddington and niece of Argyle, laughed at, and insulted him, and the 
cart was stopped in front of the balcony where were Lord Lorn (Argyle) 
and his " new lady," and Archibold Johnston (Warristoun), all the invet- 
erate enemies of Montrose. This was done to give them opportunity to 
jeer and insult him. Montrose, divining the object, turned towards them, 
and, "bareheaded" according to his sentence — fixed his eye of fire and 
courage square upon them, "whereupon they crept in at the windows." 

Arriving at the scaffold he asked to keep on his hat, which request was 
denied ; he then asked the privilege to keep on his cloak ; this also was not 
granted. ' ' Then with a most undaunted courage, in his red scarlet cassock, 
in a very stately manner he went up the ladder to the top (thirty feet) of 
that prodigious gibbet. The whole people gave a general gioan, and those 
who, at his first appearance, had bitterly inveighed against him, could not 
abstain from tears." 

Such is a brief synopsis of the life and death of James Graham, "the 
Great Marquis. " His life as a whole — only thirty-eight years— is filled with 
fact and incident, in reality as picturesque as a bright vision of the imagi- 
nation. In character there is none nobler in Scottish history. 

It is hazardous always to take arms against the powers that be, and 
was never more so than in the exciting times of Cromwell and the two 
Charles. His action as Covenanter and Loyalist has been criticised and de- 
fended by the historians of each. The late rebellion in the United States is 
fruitful in parallel cases. Montrose, a Covenanter, was as firm and decisive 
as afterward a Loyalist. In the change he lost none of his valor, courage 
or conscience, judged by the facts and events given by the chroniclers of his 
time. Surely the Covenanters were as obstinate and severe in the punish- 
ment of their enemies as the Loyalists, and therefore he gained nothing by 
the change in this regard. Indeed as a matter of Government the Loyal- 
ists had the right of it by a long established precedent. But whatever his 
motives, Montrose joined them, and perished "in the cause of the King, 
his master," writes Cardinal De Retz, "with a greatness of soul that has 
not found its equal in our age." 

Macauley, in his history of England, gives us the English side, and 
sees no good in the Qrahams, James Graham, of Montrose, and John Gra- 
ham, of Claverhouse, Lord Viscount Dundee, and relative of Montrose. 



LINEAGE. 343 

He erroneously calls the latter " Ja mes Graham, of Claverhouse," which 
leads to confusion with James Graham, of Montrose. John Graham, of 
Claverhouse, was killed at the battle of Killecrankie, July 27, 1689, nearly 
forty years after the death of Montrose. Professor Aytoun, of the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh, in his latest edition of " Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers" 
— from which a few of the facts in this paper are taken — criticises many 
statements of Macauley, in regard to Claverhouse, proving them fallacious. 

But we leave these disputants. Divinity or fate swings the hinges of 
revolution, and shame, or glory, crowns its failure or success. Who know- 
eth the which in the struggle? The proverbial "prejudices" of the histo- 
rians in their recitals are counted for naught by an impartial and enlight- 
ened jury, who believe in a just and charitable philosophy in history. 
Towards such a verdict the intelligence of the age is moving. 

In 1887, by permission of Queen Victoria, a statue of the Marquis was 
placed over his grave in St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, made by the cele- 
brated sculptor, Rhind, his son, J. Massey Rhind, doing most of the de- 
signing and work. It is said to be a fine work of art. Soon after, Rhind, 
the son, immigrated to America, and besides other work designed the King 
Memorial Fountain at Albany. The Graham Coat of Arms is thus de- 
scribed : 

"Quarterly, first and fourth gold, on a chief black, three escollops of 
the field for Graham. Second and third quarters silver, three roses, red, 
barbed and seeded proper for the title of Graham of Montrose. 

CREST. 

" An eagle wings hovering gold, perched upon a heron lying upon its 
back proper, beaked and membered, red. 

SUPPORTERS. 
"Two storks proper, beaked and membered. red. 
' ' Motto — ' N'oubliez. ' 
The whole meaning — Graham of Montrose, a notye family." 

The seal of the "Great Marquis" is in the possession of George Cov- 
entry referred to in the footnote on page first of this lineage. He describes 
it in a letter in this wise : "It has descended to me from my great grand- 
father, Augustine Graham, and was once the property of The Great Mar- 
quis himself. It was brought to America by James Graham , Attorney 
General, the first of his deccendants who emigrated hither. The seal is of 
brass, the handle about four inches in length. The device upon it is a 
shield bearing the three roses of his title same as on the family arms, and 
that is surmounted by the coronet of a Marquis. The whole is surmounted 
by the emblem of some order lo which he belonged. After the restora- 
tion of the Stuarts the title was raised to a dukedom, April 24, 1707, and 
all who bore that rank, it being higher, used a ducal coronet upon 
their seals, in lieu of that belonging to a Marquis. Thus in addition to 
family tradition, the testimony of the seal itself attests its genuineness." 

James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, left two sons, James and John. 
James succeeded to his father's estate, and John, it is said, married Isabella 



344 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Affick, and their son James Graham was Attorney General of the Province 
of New York. (Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, in her history of New York City, I 
think puts him clown as son of the Great Marquis. According to the 
family tree this is an error which she and other historians have fallen into. > 
He was a merchant in New York in 1678, and later was proprietor of 
lands in Ulster County, Staten Island and New Jersey. December 10, 
1685, he was appointed Attorney General of New York under Governor 
Thomas Dongan, who in the fall of 1686 writes in his report "that Mr. 
Graham is Attorney General and Supervisor of all Patents and soe made 
upon Mr. Rudyard's going from this place to Barbadoes, and is a person 
understanding in the law, it being his whole business." October 8, 1687, 
he became a member of the Council, and when the Governments of New 
England and New York were consolidated, he removed to Boston as At- 
torney General to Governor Andros, on whose downfall he was committed 
to prison. In 1691 he returned to New York, was chosen member of the 
Assembly and elected speaker. Sloughter was then Governor, and Thom- 
as Newton, his Attorney General, having left the province in April of that 
year, George Farwell was appointed to fill his place. He was Governor 
Andros' Attorney in the revolution under Andros in Boston, and was im- 
prisoned for some alleged illegal prosecutions. He later went to England, 
and returned to America, and was appointed Attorney General, successor 
to Newton, to prosecute Leisler and his associates. His appointment not 
being satisfactory, James Graham was again apjwinted Attorney General 
in May, 1691, and is said to have been "the mortal enemy of Leisler and 
Milborne, " during the exciting events of that time. He was speaker of the 
Assembly from 1691 to 1694 and from 1695 to 1698, and part of 1699— nearly 
nine years — when the Leisler faction being in the majority, the house 
voted a bill of indictment against their opponents. To avoid his signing 
the bill, being speaker, he- was called to the Council in May 1699. This 
principally closed his public life, he attending the council for the last time 
July 29, 1700. He was deprived of his office of Attorney General on the 
21st of January, 1701, but a few days before his death, which occurred at 
his residence in Morrisania, Westchester county, N. Y. His will is dated 
January 12, 1701, and is on record in the surrogate's office in New York. 
He bequeathed all his property share and share alike to his children Augus- 
tine, Isabella, Mary, Sarah, Margaret and John. Sarah married a Mr. 
Chappel, emigrated to England, and was the mother of Rev. Graham 
Chappel, a clergyman in Nottinghamshire. Isabella married Hon. Lewis 
Morris, first Provincial Governor of >!ew Jersey. Their children were 
Elizabeth, Margaret, Arabella, Annie, Robert Hunter, Lewis (father of 
Governeur and Lewis Morris, signer of Declaration of Independence) Mary, 
Euphemia, another daughter who married — Kearney, ancestor of Genl. 
Phil. Kearney, and still another daughter who married — Ashfield. Many 
aae the descendants of Lewis Morris and Isabella Graham. In an obituary 
at her decease in 1752 this language was used : "Liberal without prodi- 



LINEAGE. 345 

gality, frugal without parsimony, cheerful without levity, exalted with- 
out pride, in person amiable,, in conversation affable, in friendship faith- 
ful, of envoy void.." 

In Augustine Graham, son of James Graham the Attorney General, is 
the lineage we are tracing. He was surveyor general for many years, 
commissioned Major in regular militia of Westchester county by Bellomont 
in 1700, and a patentee in the Great and Little Nine Partner grants in 
Duchess county. He died in October, 1718. (See pp. 15, 17, 18, 33, 34, 35). 

James Graham, his son, who became proprietor of his father's interest 
in the Little Nine Partners, married his cousin Arabella Morris, daughter 
of Lewis Morris and Isabella Graham, and they are the parents of the Pine 
Plains Grahams. Their marriage license bears date November 30, 1738. 
He has erroneously been considered the patentee in the Little Nine Part- 
ners, instead of his father, probably as the lands to his interest in this 
patent were not disposed of to any great extent until after his death, which 
occured at Morrisania, June 34, 1767. His will made March 13, in that 
year, is recorded in the office of the surrogate at Morrisania, and this a copy : 

"In the name of God, amen. I, James Graham, of Morrisania, in the 
county of Westchester, and province of New York, being of sound and 
perfect mind and memory, do make and publish this, my last will and 
testament, in manner following, viz. : First, I will that my just debts and 
funeral charges be paid out of my real and personal estate, and that my 
executors hereafter named, have power and authority to dispose of, and 
sell so much land as shall be sufficient for that purpose; my will further is, 
that all my estate, both real and personal, (except what is hereafter ex- 
cepted) that shall remain after my just debts and funeral charges are paid, 
be equally divided between all my children, share and share alike to them, 
their heirs and assigns forever. Further it is my intent and will, that the 
messuage and tract of land, with the appurtenances at Morrisania, on 
which I now live, together with three negro men, three negro wenches, 
ten cows, one pair of oxen, four horses, with the farming utensils and 
household furniture, be, and remain to my wife Arabella Graham, to have 
and to hold for and during her natural life, and after the decease of my 
said wife, I will, and direct my executors to sell the same, and the monies 
arising from the sale thereof to be equally divided among my children. 
I will, and order, that if any of my children should happen to die un- 
married before they arrive to full and lawful age, that then, and in such 
case, the share belonging to such child be equally divided between the 
surviving children. Item — I give and bequeath to my sister, Isabella 
Graham, the sum of one hundred pounds, New York currency, to be paid 
her by my executors, out of the monies arising from the sale of land 
devised for the payment of my debts and funeral charges. Lastly, I make 
and ordain my wife, Arabella Graham, executrix, my sons Augustine 
Graham, Lewis Graham, Morris Graham, and Charles Graham, Executors 
of this, my last will and testament, to see the same performed according 
to my ti-ue intent and meaning. In witness whereof, I, the said James 
Graham, have to this my last will and testament, set my hand and seal, 
this thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven 
hundred and sixty seven." 

His children were James, Augustine, Lewis, Charles, Morris, John, 
Isabella and Arabella. 



346 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

James died unmarried November, 1764, from being tlirown from a 
horse, aged 24. 

Augustine married widow Mary Elizabeth Willett Van Ranst, and 
their children were James, (generally called "Jimmie") who married 
Elizabeth, daughter of "Judge Jesse Thompson" of Pine Plains, Governeur 
Morris, Elizabeth, and Amelia Maria, all born in Pine Plains, at the site of 
the Benjamin Strever residence, probably in that old house now gone. 
In this connection it may be stated that 3Jiss Mary Elizabeth Willett, 
daughter of Cornelius and Elizabeth Willett, married first— Graham being 
her second husband — Cornelius Van Ranst, and the Cornelius Willett Van- 
Ranst, of Pine Plains, was their son and only child. (See Van Ranst 
lineage). Augustine Graham was his father-in-law. Mr. Graham moved 
to Deerfield, Oneida county, N. Y., and died there, Dec. 25, 1815. 

James Graham, mora generally known in Pine Plains years ago as 
■"Jimmie," born 1774, was the eldest son of Augustine Graham of Pine 
Plains, and the only male descendant of the Graham brothers that settled 
in this town. He married Elizabeth Thompson, daughter of Judge Jesse 
Thompson (see Thompson Lineage) in 1798. She was born 1779. It is said 
he built "the stone house" under the mountain, now owned and occupied 
by Charles Thomas, which is on the Graham lands on Lot 27, the house 
and farm being in the south part of the town cast of Stissing Mountain. 
James emigrated to Deerfield, Oneida County, N. Y., where he deceased 
August 29, 1855. His wife deceased in 1846. He was the last resident of 
the name in this town. Their children were Jane, Thompson, Julia, Abi- 
gail, Eliza and Catharine. All have deceased. Julia has left descendants 
in George Coventry, of Utica, N. Y., and Mrs. Wilbur McKee, of Sackett's 
Harbor, N. Y., each now living (1896). 

Elizabeth sister to James above married John Weaver, has descend- 
ants. Amelia Maria married George L. Tisdale. 

Graham, Lewis, was supervisor of North East Precinct in 1779, '80, 
'81 and '84. Was married and had a daughter Margaret who married Abra- 
ham W. Walton, who was a resident of the town for some years. Lewis 
Graham was one of the Judges in Westchester County, to which county he 
moved upon leaving Pine Plains, and deceased there. (See p. 69.) 

(xrahani, Charles, was a captain in the revolution and signally dis- 
tinguished in the battle at White Plains. He was Town Clerk of North 
East Precinct in 1774 and '75, was unmarried, and it is said died at Pine 
Plains. (See p. 68.) 

Graham, Morris, brother to the above, all sons of James Graham and 
Arabella Morris, was town clerk of North East Precinct in 1772 and '3, and 
supervisor in 1774. He was a member of the first Provincial Congress of 
New York in 1775, and of all the subsequent conventions of that body, in- 
cluding i he formation of the state constitution in 1777. In 1778 he was a 



LINEAGE. 347 

member of the Assembly from this district. He never married, and died 
at Deerfield, Oneida County, N. Y. , in 1805 or '6, at the home of his sister, 
Arabella Graham. (See p. 69. ) 

Graham . John, another brother, married Julia Ogden, lived in Mor- 
risania until 1821, then moved to New York City where he lived until his 
decease in 1832. They had children Lewis, Thomas, Arabella, James, 
Charles and Euphemia. Charles was a lawyer, married Sarah Hunter in 
1809. In a letter to his Aunt Arabella in 1821 he speaks of his children 
Julia Matilda, John Hunter, Charles Colden, William Irving, James Law- 
rence and an infant not yet named. Julia Matilda, his daughter, married 
in 1833. 

CJ rail a in . Isabella, sister to the above brothers, married Jonathan 
Landon, their marriage license bearing date December 11, 1771. He came 
to Pine Pine in 1773, and was prominent as a civil officer of the town, un- 
til his death in 1815. From that branch are the present families of Thomas, 
the only descendants of the Grahams in this town. Their children were 
Richard M. , Arabella who married Amos Ketcham, Ann who married Ed- 
ward Thomas, (descendants now living in the town,) Mary who married 
John Church, and Rebecca. (See Landon lineage.) 

Graham , Arabella, sister to Isabella, above, and to the brothers, 
never married. Deceased in Deerfield, Oneida County, N. Y., in 1840, aged 
ninety. While she lived she was the encyclopedia genealogical of this Gra- 
ham race. She preserved the records and remembered the traditions of 
the family, and it is to be doubted whether any other family in this vicin- 
ity and perhaps in the county, had as many heirlooms of ancestry and lin 
eage in a direct and connected line so remote as was in her keeping of 
both fact and tradition. The most of these have passed into the possession 
of Mr. George Coventry, formerly of Utica, and his sister, now Mrs. Wil- 
bur S. McKee, of Sackett's Harbor, N. Y , who are respectively Graham 
descendants. 

In the Partition Deed of the Little Nine Partners (see p. 31) James 
Graham, son of Augustine, had among other numbered lots, number 48 and 
29. Lot 48 commenced (the southwest corner) where now Myrtle Street, 
Pine Plains, intersects the " South Street " road, and thence north to the 
Columbia County line, thence east about a mile and a quarter and the same 
distance on the south side of the lot. Lot 47 joined it on the west, the 
north and south road being very nearly the boundary, and was the George 
Clarke lot. Lot 29 adjoined these two lots on the south nearly half on 
each. It was these two Graham lots, (Nos. 48 and 29,) of the seven lots 
that fell to James Graham in the division, that his (James') heirs selected 
for their respective future homes. At the decease of James Graham June 
24, 1767, these lots and another one in the southeast part of the town, Lot 
14, were occupied, the parties paying yearly rentals. Morris Graham, the- 
acting executor of the will makes this accounting of moneys received in 



348 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

1767 and 1768. " June 24, 1767, cash in the house at James Graham's, £42, 
12s, 3p. Cash of Yonkhonce for rent, £6. (He and the following men 
were living on the above mentioned Graham lots in Pine Plains, and the 
amounts are for rent.) Cash of Melius, £4, 5s. Cash of Row, (Michael,) 
£6, 15, 6. Cash of Weaver, £4. Cash of Hoffman, £4. (These were for 
1767.) In 1768, cash of Yonkhonce £6. Cash of Melius £6. Cash of Me- 
lius £1, 15s. Cash of Hoffman £8. Cash of Row £6, 10s. Total cash 
received by executors £95, 17s, 9p. June 13, 1768, cash received of Mrs. 
Morris on interest at different times for which the executors gave bond, 
£300." 

Morris Graham came to Pine Plains at once after his father's decease, 
(1767,) and had charge of all the matters pertaining to the estate until about 

1772. He selected the south part of Lot No. 29 for himself, and meanwhile 
built the "stone house" thereon near Halcyon Lake, now used by Mr. 
Frank Eno as a tenantry. (See cut p. 52.) It was of the old colonial 
style, was tlie first and only stone house built in the town, much talked 
about, and now well preserved. The stone was quarried and picked from 
the surface of the land near by, and lime for laying them, and plastering 
was made in a kiln within a stone's throw by the side of the road south of 
the house. Its size on the ground main part is twenty-four by thirty-four. 

During these years, 1767-1771, as executor for the estate, his business 
was principally farming and building, the latter principally being done on 
his " Stone House " farm. He had cattle, hogs and horses. In 1770 he 
drove a lot of cattle to Morrisania and for his expenses, including his own 
back, he charged £5, 6s, 6p. The names of parties with whom he had ac- 
count from 1768 to 1771 is a bit .of interesting history. They are Hanscrist 
Wagoner, Joseph Rodman, Joseph Jesup, Elisha Phelps, Hendrick Weaver, 
Alexander Mcintosh, Phineas Rice, Adam Weaver, Hendrick Yonkhonce, 
Doctor Lewis (for corn), James Atwater (rye), Joseph Harris (blacksmith), 
John Woolsey (smith), Peter Van Lou van, Clement Overbaugh, Jacob 
Melius, Timothy Downs, John Lowe, Doctor Newberry (physician), Alex- 
ander Bryan, John Stewart (merchant), Duncan Stewart, Henry Sherburn 
/smith), William West, Hon. George Herrick, William Melius. This list 
is interesting as showing contemporaneous settlers in and near Pine Plains 
whose names could not be obtained from any other records. 

The general settlement however, of the Graham family took place in 

1773. October 18th and 19th of that year Jonathan Landon, from West- 
chester County — who had married Isabella Graham — made a survey, assist- 
ed by the Graham Brothers, of lot 48, one of the lots in the Little Nines 
allotted to James Graham, and in the November following he surveyed 
Lot 29, allotted also to James Graham, and subdivided each lot into farms 
for the respective members of the family. Morris, as already noticed, had 
the south part of lot 29 on which he had built his " stone house," Augus- 
tine, his brother, took the west half of the north part of the same lot which 



LINEAGE. 349 

included the later known Strever Corners, where Augustine built his first 
house. His land extended north to the George Clarke Lot No. 47, and in- 
cluded the now Duchess Depot and Knickerbocker store. In addition to 
this Augustine had sixty acres from the south part of lot 48, commencing 
near the now Pokeepsie & Eastern track, from thence to near now Myrtle 
Street. This was known in later times as belonging to Adam and Benja- 
min Strever. John Graham, another brother, had the east half of the 
north part of Lot 29, which included the now Burnap Jordan dwelling and 
that part of now Daniel Pool farm east of the road passing his house, if 
continued on the same direction southerly. John did not live here many 
years, if at all. He lived in Morrisania and later in New York (see above). 
The remainder of Lot 48, after taking out the sixty acres to Augustine, was 
divided to Lewis, Charles, Arabella and Isabella (Mrs. Landon.) Lewis 
had that part of Lot 48 commencing at the north line of Augustine, his 
brother, near the Pokeepsie & Eastern Railroad and thence north to or 
near the Hoffman Mill. It included all the now village of Pine Plains, in- 
cluding the cemetery as now. The eastern bounds were not far from the 
now Pokeepsie Railroad Depot, the east line running north parallel with 
the west line on the street. Pine Plains village is indebted to the Grahams 
for its site, and to Lewis Graham in pei-son. He built the log block house 
in 1773 or '4, known later as the " Brush House," now owned by Mr. Isaiah 
Dibble who in 1881 put on siding and other repairs as it now appears. The 
frame and main partition were made from oak logs hewn square, and the 
house had a large entry and hall way in the center and a large room on 
each side of the hall. Mr. Isaac Huntting has an arm chair made by 
Henry Englekee from an oak log taken from the house when the repairs 
were made in 1881. Arabella Graham had the northwest part of Lot No. 
48, commencing at the north line of Lewis Graham, thence north to the 
north line of the lot at the Columbia County line. She owned the 
Hoffman Mill property and the farm adjoining. Isabella Graham (Mrs. 
Landon) had the east half of Lot 48, or nearly all of it, and built a barn 
and house near where Robert Thomas now lives. The house is gone but 
the barn is there now. 

Robert Thomas now owns a portion of the original Graham-Landon 
acres and is a discendent of Isabella Graham. This Thomas family are the 
only Graham descendents in the town. This Isabella Graham portion, 
included the first Peter Husted and Culver Tannery at Hammertown. In 



350 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

1787 Jonathan Landon and Isabella sold fifty-six acres including the tan- 
nery site to Cornelius C. Elmendorph, who ten years later, 1796, sold the 
same to Peter Husted, who soon after started a tannery. 

[Note. — On page 104 is mention of the bridge built at Hoffman's Mills 
in 1818. This was to replace one built there in 1794 according to the fol- 
lowing account : 

"May 1794, Israel Curtis, road master, Dr 

"To Lewis Graham farm 68 feet timber £1, 14s. 

"To Isabella Graham farm 44 feet timber £1, 2s 

"To i gallon and one pint rum for the raisin the bridge 5s." James 
Stewart and Christopher Shultz were the commissioners of highways.] 

Soon after the settlement of the Grahams here as above, in 1773, came 
the war of the Revolution, which unsettled the settled throughout the 
country, and in the cause for freedom the Grahams were foremost and to 
the front. Morris, Charles and Lewis were in the American army. Dur- 
ing the seven years of the war or soon after, some of the family sold 
out. Lewis and John went to Westchester county and Morris it is 
said devoted a large portion of his estate, if not quite all, to the support 
and maintenance of the regiment of which he was Colonel. (See above for 
his decease.) Augustine who married Mrs. Van Ranst as above, held to 
the ancestral acres with great tenacity, and became the principal manager 
of all the unsold and undivided Graham lands in the patent, concerning 
which he had a deal of trouble by suits of ejectment, title and possession 
which financially embarrassed him greatly. 

April 1, 1784 the next year after the close of the revolutionary war he 
gave this bill of sale to his brother Morris. 

' 'A bill of sale given by Augustine Graham to Morris Graham for the 
whole of his movable estate, viz. : his negro man Philip, and negro wench 
Salina, and her four children Joe, Robin, Jonathan and Moses, with three 
old cows and three heifers, two four years and one three years old, two 
yearlings, one a heifer and the other a steer, one two year old steer, and 
three old mares, wagon, plows, sleighs, harrows and all other his farming 
utensils. To have and to hold to the said Morris Graham, his heirs and 
assigns forever the above bargained premises, the full possession of which 
was given by delivery to the said Morris Graham, his brown mare Cate in 
the name of the whole. Entered and recorded the 1st day of April, 1784, 
in presence of Andrew White and Arabella Graham." 

He remained in this town however twenty years or more afterward, 
living at the Strever forks of the road south of the village, where in July 
1799 he built the barn 25-44, the frame being there now, having been 
recently sided, and October first the same year (1799) commenced building 
the present house there 30x35 under a contract to have it enclosed for fifty 
dollars he finding every thing. Down to this time he had lived in the 
old house a little south of the present one, which stood there until a few 
years since. 



LINEAGE. 351 

Five years before, he wrote this brief letter to his son "Jimmie." 

"Dear James — I have just arrived last evening. I can't get a wagon 
to come up with me. I have brought little Jane up with me and a box 
with some things. I wish you would make it convenient to come down to 
Homes' with a wagon for me and you will much oblige your father and 
friend. AUGUSTINE GRAHAM. 

Mr. James Graham. 

July ye 14, 1795." 

"Little Jane" was a daughter of Cornelius Van Ranst. (See Van 
Ranst Lineage). 

Ham, Martin, is said to have been the first settler of the name in this 
town. He and John Houghtaling as partners purchased about 1,200 acres 
on Lot 46, Little Nine Partners, in 1769. This tract is west of the village 
about a mile and a half, some of which is now owned by Robert Ham, a 
descendant, and another portion is the Levi Best farm now in that family. 
A short distance northwesterly from the now Best residence is the old 
" Ham House," 22 x 32 with lean-to, said to have been built about 1780, 
and was the residence of Frederick Ham, Sen., a son of Martin. (See cut 
p. 63.) Martin Ham and and Margaret had sons 1st, John, 2d, Frederick, 
3d, Jacob, 4th, Peter. 

John had sons, 1st, Frederick, and 2d, Martin, who emigrated to Greene 
County, near Cairo. 

Frederick had sons 1st, John the father of Richard and Wandell, 2d, 
Jacob, father of Frederick and Henry, 3d, Peter, father of Frederick T. , 
4th, Frederick (Captain), who emigrated to Claverack, Columbia County, 
and left many descendants in that county. Frederick, the father of the 
above, was many years a prominent farmer, and the most prominent of 
the name in the town. His business life was from 1780 to about 1824. In 
addition to the sons above he had daughters Mary, Elizabeth, Margaret, 
Hannah, Phebe, Caty and Rebecca. To rear and care for so many chil- 
dren to honorable manhood and womanhood, who later brought thrift and 
happiness to many hearth stones and good to society, in his humble special 
occupation (farming) and not lack meanwhile for competence, is a consum- 
mation honorable and praiseworthy, and one not all can reach. He was 
many years an elder in the Greenbush Vedder church, and filled all the 
duties pertaining to his family, his neighbor and his God. 

Jacob, third son of Martin above, settled on the Levi Best farm above 
mentioned. Had no children. 

Peter, fourth son of Martin, born February 12, 1763, deceased Novem- 
ber 5, 1844, had sons John, Jacob, Jeremiah, Derrick, Frederick, Robert 
and Benjamin. Robert his son is now (1897) living in the paternal home- 
stead house built in 1792 and since repaired. He is now, 1897, ninety- 
three. The ancestor was one of the German Palatines. 

Harris , John, the first of the name in the town, was the son of John 
Harris and Rachel Moss, of Wallingford or Derby, Conn., later of Corn- 
wall, and later of "Oblong," son of Daniel Harris and Abigail Barnes of 



352 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Middletown, Conn., son of Daniel Harris and Mary Weld, of Boston, Mass., 
son of Thomas Harris and Elizabeth, who came from England previous to 
1680. John Harris, above, was the founder of the "Harris Scythe " indus- 
try in Pine Plains, although not the first maker of the Harris scythe. (See 
" Harris Scythes," p. 306.) The church relations of this branch were Con- 
gregational, John the father being a deacon in the church in Cornwall pre- 
vious to his immigration to the Oblong about 1750. In 1753 he signed a 
petition to have Rev. Abraham Reinke, a Moravian preacher, returned to 
the mission near Sharon. John Harris was born in Derby in April, 1744. 
His father deceased when he was about fourteen, and his mother soon after 
married David Owen, of Salisbury. John then went to his Uncle, Joseph 
Harris, then a blacksmith at the Andrus Rowe Corners, about a mile north 
of the now Shacameco Station on the N. D. & C. Railroad. ' He married 
Mary Gamble about 1770. She was born February 25, 1752. Their chil- 
dren were Mary, born January 10, 1774, John, Jr., born November 2, 1776, 
Rachel, born February 23, 1778, Hannah, born February 27, 1780, Israel, 
born March 23, 1782, Lois, born March 2, 1784, Elizabeth, born July 25, 
1788, Eunice born 1790, Ann born — ? James born 1794. Mary married 
Judah Thompson and settled in Washington County, N. Y. John, Jr., 

married Elisabeth ? of Salisbury, Conn., in 1794, where his eldest son, 

Janies Harvej', was born November 3, 1795, and a second son John, Sep- 
tember 7, 1798. John the father deceased at Lambsgreen, England, Feb- 
ruary 6, 1798, in his 23d year. Rachel married Eliakim Lapham, son of 
Parzi Lapham, of Stanford, Duchess Count}^. They were married at the 
Harris Mill homestead in Pine Plains by Judge Jesse Thompson, January 
5, 1800, settled fh-st in Columbia County on a farm adjoining Martin Van 
Buren, later moved to Stuyvesant, and later to Penn Yan, N. Y., where 
they have descendants. Hannah, born at Andrus Rowe Corners, married 
John W. Righter, of Pine Plains. They have descendants now living in the 
town in Mr. John Righter and children. Israel married Phebe Barker, 
October 28, 1808, daughter of Col. William Barker* of Amenia, and Chloe 
Bronson, a daughter of John Bronson. Lois married Periam Thompson, of 
Washington County, N. Y. , nephew of Judah Thompson, the husband of 
Mary. Elisabeth married James G. Husted, April 18, 1821. She deceased 
March 10, 1869. They have descendants now living on the borders of Stan- 
ford and Pine Plains in the wife and children of Mulford Conklin. Eunice 
married Cyrus Burnap of Pine Plains in November 1820. She deceased 
October 22, 1821. Ann married Henry Knapp, of Broome County, N. Y. 
James never married, deceased at Penn Yan 1871. John Harris, the father 
of these, deceased Nevernber 27, 1814. His widow, Mary, deceased in Pine 
Plains December 20, 1834. Israel Harris, of the above family, was the only 
brother that lived in the town. He was commendably prominent in the 
town officially and as a citizen. He held many town offices when North 
East included now Pine Plains and Milan, was the last supervisor of North 



LINEAGE. 353 

East and Pine Plains united— Milan having been set off— and was the first 
supervisor of now Pine Plains. He was a member of the legislature in 
1820-21. July 1. 1818, he was appointed Colonel of the 20th Regiment of 
the New York State Militia. He deceased in Pine Plains at the old house 
(now repaired) near the Harris saw mill, March 4, 1831, in his 49-th year. 
He married as above and had children John J.. William Barker, Israel Vic- 
tor, Silas Gamble, Myron, Eunice and Mary. In 1836 or 7 John J. and 
William B. emigrated to Liverpool, near Syracuse, N. Y., where they 
jointly had purchased a farm. They lived together on this farm until the 
decease of John in 1864. Each was highly esteemed. Politically they were 
decided republicans, William taking an active part in the "Jerry Rescue " 
scheme, as it was called. He was decided in his opinions, and made many 
political speeches. The two brothers were members of the Presbj r terian 
church, William being a deacon thirty j T ears. John deceased at Liverpool, 
December 13, 1864, and William deceased there November 11, 1866. Wil- 
liam left two children, a daughter and son. Adell the daughter married 
Philip Coons, and lives (1897) at Pontiac, 111. William, the son, lives at 
Bathgate, North Dacotah, and is the only descendant (1897) of this Israel 
Harris family bearing the name. Israel Victor, Silas Gamble and Myron, 
the other sons of Israel Harris, emigrated to Western Michigan from 1837 
to 1839. Silas and Israel Victor settled in Grand Rapids. Silas, on a re- 
turn visit to Pine Plains in 1851, had an attack of typhoid fever and de- 
ceased at the home of Col. Silas Harris August 4th, that year. Israel Vic- 
tor deceased in Grand Rapids, Michigan, October 17, 1886, aged 71. He 
and Silas were bachelors. Myron settled on a farm near Grand Rapids 
where he deceased 1880. He married and has descendants, a daughter 
Myra, the wife of Mr. Burnap Jordan, who lives on one of the Israel Harris 
homesteads, being one of them. Eunice, one of the daughters of Israel 
Harris married Henry Akin, December 28, 1841, emigrated to Lockport, 111., 
and in 1843 settled on a farm, where she and her husband lived until 1875, 
then moved to Vermillion County, 111. , and from thence in 1881 to Fort 
Collins, Colorado, where she deceased February 16, 1896, aged 72. She was 
an estimable woman and has left many descendants. Mary, the other and • 
youngest daughter of Israel Harris, married William Herrick, of Salt 
Point, Duchess County. She is the only one living (1897) of the sons and 
daughters of Israel Harris. Her husband is living, each are infirm, and 
they have one daughter. 

Harris, Seth, son of Joseph, of another branch of this family tree 
was cousin to John Harris the scythe, maker. He married Isabella Gamble, 
sister to the wife of John, emigrated to Burlington, Vermont, where 
his wife deceased. He emigrated from thence to Kingsbury, N Y. , and 
from thence to Pine Plains about 1810, and took an interest in the Harris 
Scythe* manufacture. (Seep. 308.) He had sons, Silas and John, and a 
daughter Elisabeth, who was said to have been a beautiful and accom- 



354 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

plished woman. Seth Harris married 2d Susan Husted, a daughter of 
Peter and Polly Husted, and had two daughters Susan and Mary. Susan 
married a Mr. Ayres of Elmira, N. Y. , has descendants, and Mary married 
Ambrose Smith son of Isaac Smith, Esq. , of a Pine Plains family. Seth 
Harris deceased at Hammertown, Pine Plains, February 2, 1842, in his 80th 
year. 

Harris, Silas, son of Seth, (see cut p. 311,) married Maria, daughter 
of Edward Puggsley, had two daughters Margaret and Mary. Margaret 
married Mr. John Luqueer and deceased without descendants. Mary 
married Mr. Theodore Pomeroy of Pittsfield and deceased leaving three 
daughters, Fanny, Margaret and May ; and one son, Silas H. They have 
descendants, none of whom live in Pine Plains. (For more of Silas Harris 
see p. 310 and following. ) 

Harris, John, brother to Silas, married Hannah Righter, had chil- 
dren Walter, Stickle, Hiram and possibly others. He deceased in Albany. 
(See page 310.) 

Hart well, Niles, son of Abraham Hartwell and Mary Lawrence of 
Spencers Corners neighborhood, North East, came to Pine Plains in 1810 
or '11, as clerk for Hoffman & Winchell in the old red store on the now 
Charles Morgan Corner. He was born July 29, 1782, and married Mary 
Winchell, a daughter of Philo Winchell, and had daughters Mary, Julia 
and Chloe. Chloe married John F. Hull, for many years a cashier of the 
Fallkill Bank, Pokeepsie. He has descendants now, 1897, living there. 
Mr. Hartwell was in the Hoffman and Winchell store until their dissolu- 
tion in 1821 or '2, Mr. Hoffman retiring, when he became a partner with 
Mr. Winchell, under the firm "Winchell & Hartwell." They continued 
until 1832, when Mr. Hartwell retired from the firm and commenced mer- 
chandising on his own account in the store on the now Bow man Opera 
House corner. [Note — see cut of this corner p. 208. This store was the 
old school house building, which stood nearly opposite the now Philip Pies- 
ter residence, and was moved to the corner and converted into a store by 
Henry Hoffman, Esq., about 1826, he having purchased the lease of Ebene- 
ner Dibblee at the public sale of his estate on Tuesday, March 14, 1826. It 
was on the George Clarke land, and on the "Dibblee farm," which he, 
Ebenezer Dibblee, had secured by lease from Clarke during two lives, 
dated October 2, 1797, containing one hundred and thirty-three acres and 
three quarters of land. Mr. Hoffman sold this lease to Justus Boothe, May 
1, 1829, for eighteen hundred dollars. John Peter Keeler was the first 
merchant in the store, was there in 1826, '7, '8 and '9, and was succeeded 
by a man named Westover, who failed in 1830 or '31.] 

Mr. Hartwell remained in this store until about 1842, when Mr. Win- 
chell retired from merchandising in the old red store on the Morgan cor- 
ner, and Mr. Hartwell moved into the store building Mr. Winchell had va- 
cated. At this time David Dykeman became partner, the firm being Hart- 



LINEAGE. 355 

well & Dykeman. The next year, December 20, 1843, Niles Hartwell de- 
ceased and about a year later Mr. Dykeman deceased. Mr. Hartwell and 
family were members of the Baptist church, and their breaking up was a 
great loss to the church and community. 

Holbrook, Nicholas, came to Pine Plains as clerk for Hoffman & 
Winchell in 1810 or '11, and remained one year. June 2, 1819, he entered 
a store for himself on the southeast corner at Pulvers Corners, under a 
lease from Peter W. Pulver, at an annual rental of one hundred and twenty- 
five dollars. Mr. Holbrook had advanced forty dollars on this year's rent 
March 16, previous. This store building had been a store and tavern at the 
now Mulford Wheeler corners, and kept by Jonas Myers. He was suc- 
ceeded by his sons, by his first marriage, James and Jonas. They were 
succeeded by Peter Johns who had married Elizabeth Conklin, daughter of 
Eleazer Conklin. Johns later emigrated to West Stockbridge, where he de- 
ceased. Richard Messenger succeeded, and then Mr. Holbrook for a short 
time, when, in the early spring of 1819, Peter W. Pulver purchased the 
building and moved it to Pulvers Corners for Mr. Holbrook, and had it 
ready for occupancy June first, according to a written contract between 
Pulver and Holbrook. According to the contract Mr. Holbrook had the 
annual option of the store for five years. He remained there to and in- 
cluding 1826. In 1827 he moved to North East Center where he continued 
merchandising until his decease. A door handle was on his store there 
stamped "N. H. 1827," made by Austin Stocking, a blacksmith at Pulvers 
Corners. His wife was Rachel Deuell, daughter of Jonathan Deuell, and 
sister to Samuel Deuell of Pine Plains. They had two children, Newton 
and Rachel. Newton for many recent years was a merchant at Lithgow, 
where he deceased and has descendants. Rachel, the daughter, highly 
esteemed, is still living (1897). Eliakim Lapham and his son John Harris 
Lapham succeeded Holbrook in the store at Pulvers Corners. 

Hammond, Henry R. , see p. 296. Was supervisor in 1841 and 1842. 

Hoag, Charles, son of John and Mercy Hoag, of the town of Wash- 
ington, Duchess County, came to Pine Plains in 1798. His wife was Bet- 
sey Denton, daughter of James and Deborah Denton. Their children were 
Anna, John, James, Henry, Phebe, Ezra, Benjamin, Deborah and Mary. 
Ezra married Roxana, daughter of Joshua Culver, of Pine Plains, and is 
the only one of the family having descendants in this vicinity. John has 
descendants bearing the name living in Clinton, in this county, and Anna, 
who married Harris Smith, has descendants living in Pokeepsie. For bi- 
ography of Charles Hoag see page 161. 

Hoag, Robert, was a son of Isaiah Hoag and Dorothy Green, who 
were early residents of the town of Dover in the neighborhood of "Titus' 
Store." Isaiah was born in 1757, deceased 1819. His wife was born in 
1760, deceased in 1827. They had thirteen children of whom Robert was 
one, born October 10. 1790, and Tripp was another, born October 10, 1794. 



356 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Tripp Hoag was well known in this town sixty years ago as an accom- 
plished carpenter workman, and as a landlord at the now Kettergr, Hotel. 
About 1812 Robert married Phebe Pugsley, daughter of William Pugs- 
ley, and moved to a farm in Ghent, Columbia county, where his eldest 
daughter, Mary Annette was born, who subsequently was the wife of Elias 
Titus, a manufacturer of woolen goods at his factory, eight or nine miles 
from Pokeepsie. In 1816 Mr. Hoag came to now Pine Plains town and 
settled on the now John Righter farm on the Clarke land northwest of the 
Hoffman Mills, where he lived until the spring of 1833, his brother Harvey 
succeeding him. Here his children Frances Eliza, William Pugsley, Jane, 
Catharine and Edward were born. Dr. Hoag. of Millertpn, is a son of 
William P., above, and Frances E. is the w T ife of Edmund P. Carpenter, of 
Amenia. In 1820, on this farm, Mr. Hoag received a certificate for grow 
ing the largest amount of corn on one acre in the county, of which this is a 
copy : 

' ' This is to certify that Robt. Hoag of the Town of North East, has 
this day exhibited to the Duchess County Society for promoting Agri- 
culture and Domestic Manufactures, the best acre of Indian Corn being 
one hundred and twenty-eight bushels and twenty -five quarts, for which 
he has received the Society's Premium, being apiece of Plate worth Twenty 
Dollars. May this evidence of merit stimulate him and his neighbors to 
excel at the ensuing anniversary. 

November 3, 1820. Isaac Smith. President, 

William Broom, Secretary. 

The bottom of the certificate has an engraving of an agricultural dis- 
play of cattle, sheep, a small foot spinning wheel, and harvesting with 
sickles. In the middle stands George Washington leaning on his plow 
handles, surrounded by a wreath, from the top of which floats the motto, 
Venerate The Plough. 

Mr. Hoag moved from this farm and settled on the farm north of 
Smithfield church about 1834, now owned by Mr. Isaac S. Carpenter. 
There his wife deceased in 1859. Some years later, his family being broken 
and scattered, he made his home with his daughter, Mrs. E. P. Carpenter, 
south of The City corners, Amenia, where he deceased August 7, 1881, in 
his 91st year. 

Hick.! 1 !) , families of Pine Plains are descendants of Robert, who came 
to America from England in the ship Fortune, which landed at Plymouth, 
Mass., in 1621. He was a leather dresser in Bermondesey Street, South- 
work, London. His father, James Hicks, was lineally descended from 
Elias Hicks, who was kinghted by Edward the Black Prince, son of Ed- 
ward III, at the great battle of Poitiers, September 19, 1356, for capturing a 
set of colors from the French. Margaret, wife of Robert Hicks, came to 
America a year later, on the ship Ann, and with her husband settled in 
Duxbury, Mass. John, one of their sons, settled on Long Island about 
1642, and was prominent later as a leading man in the early settlement of 
Flushing. He was the lineral ancestor of the families in this town, down 



LINEAGE. 357 

to Benjamin, the sixth generation, each having a large family. Cum 
mencing with Robert, 1st, the line is Robert, John, Thomas, Jacob, Joseph, 
Benjamin. The mother of Benjamin was Catharine Filkins, the second 
wife of Joseph. Benjamin married Deborah Doty, and with other brothers 
bought a large tract of land about the middle of the last century on the 
west side of Stissing Mountain (then in Little Nine Partners) and the settle- 
ment was called "Hicks Hill." The children of Benjamin and Deborah 
Doty and their marriages were, Elias married Charlotte (Lotty) Kovve ; 
Amy married Nathan Case ; Sarah married Frederick Couse, Elisabeth 
married Samuel Wilbur; Joseph married Lucy Germond; Benjamin mar- 
ried Hannah Couse ; David married Mary Gildersleeve; Deborah married 
Lewis Torry; Anna married Peter Moore. Of these Benjamin succeeded 
to the paternal homestead on Hicks Hill, (his father built the old house) 
where his children were born. They were Samuel I., Uri, George, Anna, 
Edward, Zayde Ann, Asa, Catharine, Elisabeth, Perry and Benjamin. 
Descendants from some of these are now living in the town and elsewhere. 
Samuel I., above, in January, 1841, married Eliza Ann Link and succeeded 
to the homestead, where in 1878 he built a commodious dwelling on an 
eminence near the old house bis grandfather had built over a century 
before. Here his wife deceased March 4, 1894, aged 78, and be March 
8, 1894, aged 79. They had a life of industry, competence and good cheer, 
and a friendly welcome for all. He held many offices of trust in Pine 
Plains in which town he lived. He bad six children, four sons and two 
daughters. Willard, one of the sons, lives near the old bomestead and is 
owner of a portion of the ancestral acres. Uri Hicks, brother to Samuel I. . 
has always been a resident of the town, and is now living about three 
miles west of the village. 

"HolFjnaasi, Hanrick," son of a Palatine, is the town ancestor of the 
name, and settled in North East Precinct, in the now town of Pine Plains, 
previous to 1768. His wife was Sybil Magdalena Yonkhonce, written also 
Yonghaus, born in 17'20. He was born in 1719. They were communicants 
at the Round Top church at Bethel from its first recorded communion, 
June 4, 1763, continuously to its last recorded communion, May '20, 1787, 
with scarcely an absence, and were sponsors to many baptisms in this 
church. He had three sons, Henry, Matthias and Anthony, and a daugh- 
ter who married a Tallmage, who lived in Scatacuok, bad children, and 
later emigrated to Ohio where the family became prominent. About two 
years after his last communion he deceased, February 4, 1789, in bis 70th 
year.and she July 26, 1805, aged 83. They were buried in Round Top Ceme- 
tery west of the road opposite the old church, and a marble head-stone, in 
good preservation, now stands at the head of their respective graves. It 
was fitting they should be buried near the altar, where they had so long 
been wont to offer sacrifice. 

Hoffman, Henry, Esquire, son of Hanrick, above, was born January 



358 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

6, 1761, and from his manhood to the close of his business life, no man in 
Pine Plains, contemporaneous, had so many business connections with 
different enterprises all at the same time. In 1784 he was possessed of the 
George Barton farm near Ancram Lead Mines, where, about 1803, he com- 
menced merchandising, Aaron E. Winchell being the store manager. He 
had previously started a blacksmith shop there, under the management of 
Luther Stebbins, which in June, 1803, hammer and tongs and all was 
moved to the Hoffman Mill property, about a mile north of Pine Plains 
village, which he and bis brother Matthias had jointly purchased in 1801. 
Matthias was owner of a portion of the George Barton farm, and May 2, 
1807, Henry purchased his interest in the Hoffman Mill property, and also 
his interest in the Barton farm, and moved to the Hoffman Mills, in 1807 
or '8, where in 1812 he built the large farm dwelling and barn there, the 
barn having been repaired. In 1817, he purchased the woolen factory at 
' ' Separate, " and his son-in-law, "Walter Dorchester, was a partner. In 1820 
he purchased the Mount Ross Mill property, and his son Henry, Jr., and 
son-in-law, Jeremiah Conklin, were managers and lived there. In 1826 lie 
purchased the lease of Ebenezer Dibblee, deceased, of the George Clarke 
farm, and put a store on the now opera house corner, which was later 
occupied by Ndes Hartwell, but Mr. Hoffman was not a partner. (See 
Niles Hartwell Lineage. ) He was a partner with Aaron E. Winchell in 
the store on the Charles Morgan corner from the time of his coming there, 
in 1810, or '11, to their dissolution, August 1, 1819. 

In these manifold business enterprises his fidelity to his church 
(Lutheran) meanwhile was unclouded. He was a member of Round Top 
Society, where his father was, his first communion being on Pinkster fast 
Sunday, May 19, 1782, and when in 1815 the "Union Meeting House" of 
Pine Plains as a union of four denominations was built, he stood to the 
front and almost alone to preserve the Lutheran interest which he princi- 
pally maintained until near his decease. (See Presbyterian Church p. 166.) 
He deceased at his home, at Hoffman Mills, 1840 aged 80. He married 
Catharine Vetterlee (erroneous Featherly) and their children were: Mar- 
garet, married Rowland Sweet of Copake ; Caty, Alanor married Walter 
Dorchester, Henry married Almira Culver, daughter of Joshua Culver; 
Polly married Jeremiah Conklin; Betsey married George Barton; Laura 
married Artemus Sackett; Anthony married a daughter of Dr. Leonard 
Barton. There are many descendants by these marriages near by and far 
away. 

51 off man. Anthony, son of the above, succeeded to the Hoffman 
Mill property and was for many years a prominent man in the town. He 
deceased on the homestead. Has no descendants bearing the name. 

Hoffman, Henry, Jun., son of Henry above, married as above. 
Settled first at the Mount Ross Mills, later on the farm near Bethel, known 



LINEAGE. 359 

as the Isaac Halleck farm, where he deceased. Has descendants living in 
this vicinity, Mrs. Mary Brj^an and family near Shacameco Station, being 
of this branch. 

Hoffman, Matthias — "Tice" — brother to Henry Hoffman, Esquire, 
above, first settled on the "Barton farm" near Ancram Lead Mines, with 
or near his brother Henry. He came from thence to the Hoffman Mills, 
in 1801, and from thence in 1807, or near that to the Ten Eyck farm, two 
miles south-west of Pine Plains, where he deceased. His wife was Anna 
Maria Strever. Had children Henry, Maria, Magdalena, possibly others. 

Hedges, Josiah, son of Daniel Hedges and Jerusha Huntting, of East 
Hampton, L. I., was the first of the name in the town. His sister, Jeru- 
sha, was the first wife of Isaiah Dibble, who lived on the now Samuel Tan- 
ner farm, near Bethel. Josiah Hedges in 1803 married Elisabeth (Betsey) 
Dibble, sister to Isaiah. In 1810 he settled on the "Hedges farm," near 
Mount Ross, where he deceased in 1843. His widow deceased there in 
1851. They had two children, Mary Elisabeth and Lewis D. Mary married 
Isaac Smith, of Pine Plains. He deceased on the Hedges farm in 1844, and 
she lived there until 1890, then moved to near Silvernail's Station, Colum- 
bia County, where she deceased in 1890. She has many descendants. 

Hedges, Lewis D. , son of Josiah above, was a popular and successful 
merchant and highly esteemed citizen at Pine Plains for many years, and 
deceased there in 1859. He married Miss Mary Pulver, daughter of An- 
dreas Pulver. She is living, 1897, in the village, and they have descend- 
ants. 

Hedges, William, a prominent man and farmer in the town, wife, 
Phebe Gifford, is son of Daniel Hedges, another branch of the name. He 
lives near Mount Ross and has descendants. John Hedges, now a mer- 
chant in the village, is a son of his. 

IBsiestead, Ebenezer, (modern orthography Husted) of Huguenot 
ancestry, was the first of the name in this locality. The Husteds settled in 
now Stanford which town was taken from Washington in 1793, and in 1798 
and '99, Joseph, Asher, Ananias, Ebenezer, Jethro, Reuben, Caleb, Nicho- 
las and Matthew, each a Husted, lived in Stanford. Of these Ebenezer is 
the only one to my knowing of the lineage I am tracing. Ebenezer Hues- 
tead, above, came from Horseneck, Fairfield County, Conn. There were 
many settlers there by that name, Angell Heusted being one of the "27 
Proprietors of 1672." Ebenezer purchased a farm of Isaac Thorne in 1750 
on Lot 26, Great Nine Partners, then in the Precinct of " Crom Elbow," 
later Charlotte Precinct, and later still the town of Washington. In his 
will of 1785 he mentions two sons, Ebenezer and Silas, and two daughters, 
Mary and Hannah. 

Ilnsted, Major Ebenezer, son of above, married a Miss Germond, 
modern Germain, and in 1766 bought a tract of two hundred acres, now 
the south part of the original Mrs. Juckett farm in Stanford, of James 



360 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Winans and Sarah his wife, all the parties then living in ' ' Charlotte Pre- 
cinct. " The next year, 1767, he bought eighty seven acres of James Smith 
and Dorus his wife, all of " Charlotte Precinct." This tract is supposed to 
be the north part of the original farm of Mrs. Juckett, now owned by Smith 
Sackett. This Ebenezer and wife, and the parents of his wife, were buried 
at " the City," now Smithfield, on the west side of the road, where was 
once a burial ground. There are no traces now of their graves. In his 
will made in 1810 he calls himself "Ebenezer Husted the Sixth." James 
G. Husted and Samuel Husted, his grandsons, and Judge Jesse Thompson 
were executors. His children were Peter, Ebenezer E. , Germond and two 
daughters Sarah and Deborah. 

flusted. Peter, son of Major Ebenezer married Polly Smith daughter 
of Isaac Smith Esquire. (See cut p. 182.) They had children Leonard, 
Cornelius, Derrick, Walter, Harry, Susan, Clarissa, Sarah and Mary. 
These, parents and children, were a prominent family in Pine Plains in 
the early years of this century. Leonard married Sally Couch, Cornelius 
married Phebe Waters, Derrick never married, Walter never married, 
Harry married Susan Williams of Penn Yan, N. Y. , settled there, Susan 
married 1st Smith Barlow, 2d Seth Harris (had two daughters Susan and 
Mary). Clarissa married Dr. Cornelius Allerton, Sarah "the belle of Pine 
Plains" married Samuel Stevens, (emigrated to Penn Yan.) Mary married 
Charles Couch. The married of the above have descendants. Peter, son of 
Cornelius above, now about eighty years old, is the only one living in the 
town bearing the name of Peter Husted and Polly Smith. Peter the ancestor 
purchased the "Husted property" in Hammertown of Cornelius C. Elmen- 
dorph in 1796, and started the tannery there known later as the Cornelius 
and Peter Husted tannery. Joshua Culver commenced work there about 
1800 and later was a partner with Cornelius Husted. Peter Husted owned 
also a large tract of land north of Church street in the village including 
the cemetery. Further mention is made of him elsewhere in this volume. 
He deceased in 1808 at the Husted residence in Hammertown in his 47th 
year, and his widow Polly in Pine Plains in 1825, in her 64th year. Cor- 
nelius Husted their son mentioned above was for many years a prominent 
man in this town. He had sons Peter, Walter and Henry, and a daughter 
Julia. Peter and Walter have decendants living in the town, and the 
daughter Julia was the mother of Mrs. Slingerland and brother and sister. 

II listed. Ebenezer E., son of Major Ebenezer married Hannah 
Lewis, daughter of Jonathan Lewis and settled in Washington or Verbank 
Duchess County. They had three children Lewis, Daniel and Gertrude. 
The husband deceased and his widow later was the second wife of Isaac 
Huntting. No children by this marriage. 

Husted, Germond, son of Major Ebenezer married Polly Adsitt, had 
children James G. , Samuel, Isaac, Germond, Maria and Deborah. The 
sons married and have descendants. Sarah Husted, daughter of Major 



LINEAGE. 361 

Ebenezer, married George Brownell, and Deborah, her sister, married 
David Sutherland and settled near Chatham Center, Columbia County. 
They had several children. 

IB usJtMl. Captain Silas, brother to Major Ebenezer above, settled on 
the James W. Smith (now Bathrick) farm, the old house standing near 
the farm dwelling there now. The farm contained 422 acres, on Lot 10, 
in Little Nine Partners, which he had purchased in 1769 of Susannah Reid, 
attorney for John Reid, a "Lieutenant Colonel in His Majesty's Forty 
Second Regiment of foot, " for $600. This was before the revolutionary 
war, in which Silas was a captain and his brother Ebenezer a major. In 
1807 Silas Husted and wife Sarah sold this farm of 422 acres to Jonathan 
and Jacob Husted, two of his sons, for $12,500. Jonathan married Mary 
Cummins, and Jacob married Susan De Lavergne. In addition to these 
two sons Captain Silas had children Joseph, Ebenezer, Silas and Hannah. 
After selling out here it is said he settled on a farm on the Duchess turn- 
pike near Pleasant Valley. This family of Husted, from the first settler 
Ebenezer, were noble men, resolute, positive, and companionable, and 
highly esteemed. 

Hedding, James, father of Bishop Elijah Hedding, a Methodist. 
See Methodist Church, page 197. 

Huntting, Isaac Mulford, son of Edward, son of Rev. Nathaniel, pas- 
tor of the Presbyterian church at East Hampton, L. I. , fifty years, son of John, 
son of John who emigrated from Suffolk Co,, England, in 1638, and settled in 
Dedham, Mass., was the first of the name in Duchess County. He came 
from East Hampton in 1783, and settled near the north town line of now 
Stanford, on the farm of the late Dr. Isaac M. Huntting, who was his 
great grandson, the farm having continuously been in the family name to 
the present time (1897). (Note — the name has been written with one and 
two t's, the Rev. Nathaniel Huntting using two, and his grandson, Isaac 
Mulford, the first of the name here, using the same ) His wife was Ruth 
Stratton, of East Hampton. Each deceased on the Stanford home farm in 
1812. Their son Isaac (see cut p. 177 and his homestead p. 106) and Eliza- 
beth Knapp were the parents of the Stanford and northern Duchess fami- 
lies of the name, well known in the first half of the century. The sons 
having descendants were Samuel, Edward, John Thompson and Morgan. 

ii unit i i ng, Samuel, married Miss Jerusha Dibble, of Pine Plains, and 
lived on the ancestral Huntting homestead farm on Stanford north border 
line, where he deceased in 1876. His widow deceased in Pine Plains 1886. 
They had three sons — no daughters — Isaac Mulford, Lewis Dibblee and 
Richard. Isaac M. married Miss Sarah S. Rundall, of Amenia, was a phy- 
sician, and deceased on the original Huntting homestead farm in 1893. His 
widow deceased at Amenia 1895. Buried at Amenia. No descendants. 
Lewis D. (see cut p. 255) married Miss Anna M. Lockwood, had sons 
Samuel and Nathaniel. They were prominent and successful brokers in 



362 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Wall Street, N. Y., until their decease a few years since. Richard, the 
youngest brother, emigrated to England, married and settled in London, 
where they now (1897) reside. He has two sons and two daughters all 
living there. 

Iluntting, Edward, (see cut p. 143,) married Miss Amanda Winans of 
Pine Plains, emigrated in 1819 to " Chatham Four Corners, " now Chatham, 
Columbia County, and settled on the present Lou Payne residence as it is, 
the farm then including the now Chatham Cemetery and the west part of 
the now village, the old house standing near the site of the present Payne 
dwelling. Here his three daughters and son Isaac were born. In 1829 he 
removed with his family to Pine Plains and settled on the ' ' Edward Huntt- 
ing farm," where he deceased in 1884, his wife having deceased in 1873. 
Isaac his son above is the author, writer and compiler of this history. He 
has now in manuscript a genealogy and biography of the Hunttings of 
Duchess County. (See cut of him p. 364. ) 

I limiting, John Thompson, married Miss Phebe Smith, of Pine 
Plains, and settled on a farm on the north bounds of Stanford, now the 
home of Mulford Conklin, where he deceased 1830, leaving two daughters, 
who are now (1897) living in Pine Plains. Each married and have 
descendants living in the village. The husband of each has deceased. 

Ilimtting, Morgan, (see cut p. 251,) married Miss Julia Barton, 
daughter of Dr. Leonard Barton of Stanford, settled first on a farm near 
Chatham Center, Columbia County, later in 1829 on the Isaac Huntting 
homestead farm (p. 106), later on the now Judge Barnard farm near 
Mclntyre Station, on the P. & E. R. R., and from thence, in the fall of 
1849, with six children and wife, emigrated to the town of Courtland, Kent 
County, Michigan, and settled on a farm, where he deceased in 1868 and 
his widow in 1881. He has descendants living in that part of the state. 

[The following from the Amenta Times of May 15, 1897, is inserted at 
this point as part of the Israel Harris lineage: "In the old Amenia 
cemetery, opposite the homestead of Charles Morgan, rest the remains 
of the great-grandfather, great- grandmother, great -aunt and great- 
uncle of the late A. Bronson Alcott — "the Sage of Concord" — per- 
haps even better known as the father of the gifted Louisa of 
"Little Men" and "Little "Women" fame. On March 28, 1728, Cap- 
tain John Bronson (spelled Brovvnson in the cemetery) married Com- 
fort Baldwin, daughter of William Baldwin, of Stratford, Conn. They 
lived in Northbury (now Plymouth), Conn., until 1759, when they removed 
to Nine Partners, N. Y., and Captain John became a Baptist deacon. 
Among the seven children of this couple were a John, Jr., and a Chloe. 
who became the wife of Colonel Barker, and these are buried near Deacon 
John and his u-ife, Comfort. Another son, a Captain Amos, settled on the 
homestead his father left in Northbury, and a daughter of Amos, named 
Anna, became the mother of Amos Bronson Alcott.] 



LINEAGE. 363 

Hiserodt — H ©ysradt, (oldest records write Hiserout,) are of Pal- 
atine ancestry, and were of the earliest settlers in the town bounds and ad- 
jacent towns in Columbia County, whither they emigrated after the "break 
up " of the Hudson River Palatine settlement. They settled principally in 
the valley of the Roloef Jansen Creek. There are many descendants of 
these early families and by marriage are allied to many families in the 
town. Henry I. Hiserodt in the early years of the century was proprie- 
tor of the northeast part of the now Slingerland farm, and a prominent 
man. Henry H. Hiserodt, previous to 1800 and for many years subse- 
quent, lived on the farm on the George Clarke land north west of Hoff- 
man Mills, now owned by John Righter. These christian names have 
been perpetuated for many generations. A genealogy of the name, and 
connections by marriage, of the past and present residents of the town, 
would make a large volume. 

Jordan, Josephus Dunham, a lawyer, was born in Hillsdale, Colum- 
bia County, N. Y. He read law in the office of Judge Peck, Hudson, N. 
Y., was licensed as an attorney of the Supreme Court October 30, 1835, 
diploma signed by John Savige, Chief Justice, and as counsellor in the 
same court May 13, 1842, at the City Hall, New York, diploma signed by 
Judge Nelson, and in the same year, licensed as solicitor in Chancery by 
James Van Der Poel, vice chancellor at Albany. He came to Pine Plains 
in May, 1836, and practiced law until 1846, when he retired from the pro- 
fession and went to farming, living in the dwelling on the now Frank Eno 
farm south of the village, but his farm was only a portion of that farm as 
now. His wife was Elisabeth Knickerbocker. Mr. Burnap Jordan, now 
living about a mile south of the village, is his son, who married, 1st, Miss 
Elizabeth Harris, a granddaughter of Col. Israel Harris. They have de- 
scendants. He married, 2d, Miss Myra Harris, half sister to his first wife, 
and are living (1897) on one of the Israel Harris homestead farms. 

Jolmston, Charles, a lawyer, came to Pine Plains in 1815. He was 
brought up by his uncle, Daniel Johnston, of Salisbury, Conn. Samuel 
his brother at one time had a store at Spencers Corners in North East, and 
later moved to Pokeepsie and was captain of a freight boat running from 
the foot of Main Street to New York. He married a Miss Ketcham, daugh- 
ter of the hotel keeper at the foot of Main Street. They had a daughter 
who married an Ellsworth. Samuel Johnston deceased in Pokeepsie. 
Daniel Johnston above, of Salisbury, married Mary Waterman, and her 
sister married Charles Loveland, all of Salisbury, Connecticut. Charles 
Johnston Esq., above, married Eliza Bostwick daughter of Benjamin R. 
Bostwick of Pine Plains. He moved to Pokeepsie in 1832, and continued 
his profession there until his decease. 

Keityon, Elisha, was a resident of Pine Plains as early as 1814 near 
which year he married "Latchie" Knickerbocker, daughter of Benjamin 
Knickerbocker. He owned a farm two and a half miles south-east of 



LINEAGE. 365 

Pine Plains in 1822 and later, which was owned afterwards by Mr. Samuel 
Deuell. Kenyon had children Catharine, Maria, Henrietta, Peter, Ben- 
jamin, Harriet and Julia. Catharine married Mortimer Winans and 
emigrated west, was living in 1887. Maria married Pulver ("Dick") 
Hiserodt. She deceased in Pine Plains. A daughter of hers married Mr. 
Harman Pulver and has descendants. Henrietta Kenyon married Wil- 
liam Rockefeller. 

KetHiiniiB-Bit'tchaifiB, Edward, of Ipswich, Mass., 1635, is said to 
have been the first of the name in America. He had three sons, Edward 
of Stratford, John of Huntington, and Samuel. Edward had a daughter 
Rebecca who married Thomas Taylor of Norvvalk, Conn., 1678, and 
Joseph (1st in this lineage) supposed to be a son of Edward, was a land 
holder there in that year. April 3, 1679, he married Mercy, daughter of 
Deacon Henry Tindall of New Haven, Conn., born Dec. 18, 1658. They 
had three children, Nathaniel born January 23, 1680, Sarah, and Joseph-^ 
2d, born 1716-18, and deceased after 1793. March 8, 1749, Joseph 2d mar- 
ried Elisabeth, daughter of Gideon Hurlbutt, son of Thomas, son of 
Thomas, son of Thomas a Lieutenant in a company that garrisoned the 
Fort at Saybrook, Conn., in the Pequot War. He was wounded by the 
Indians in 1637 and it is said on one occasion his life was saved by the 
wife of a Sachem. 

KetcliliitB, Joseph 2d, and Elisabeth Hurlbutt had eleven children, 
Joseph, Jr., 3d, born 1754, Hezekiah, Elisabeth, wife of Elisha Colver, Jr., 
of North East Precinct, Lydia, wife of Major Albert Chapman, Noah, 
Daniel, Amos, Silvia, wife of Jonathan Lane, Joel, Sarah, and James who 
was born 1774. .Joseph Ketchum, 2d, was a resident of Oblong, owning 
pari of Lot 79. near now Millerton, April 10, 1772, at which date John 
Hurlbutt also of Oblong gave him a bill of sale of seventy-eight acres of 
wheat to secure the sum of "forty pounds" paid him by said Joseph 
Ketchum. October 12th the same year Hurlbutt gave him another bill of 
.]>■ of "all the~ wheat he has sowed on said Ketchum's land, one yoke of 
oxen, one mare colt, one white faced cow, three swine, a certain piece of 
corn >'>n said Ketchum's ground, one iron bound cart and iron shod slay, 
two plows and irons, one ox yoke, two ox chains, two pair horse traces of 
iron, and three horse devices." In June or July 1775, Joseph Ketchum 2d 
procured signers in now Millerton section of North East, to the revolution- 
ary "Association" and on his list is found his own name and his two sons 
Hezekiah and Joseph, Jr. (Seep. 42.) Noah, another son of Joseph, 2d, 
ed in Duchess County, 1788. Amos, another son of Joseph 2d, mar- 
ried J .rabella, daughter of Jonathan Landon and Isabella Graham of Pine 
F lavas (See Graham, Isabella, Lineage). Had sons Hiram and Morris, 
,ssibly other children. They have descendants. None of the Ketchum 



T 



366 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

name appear in the town records much later. May 12, 1763, Epenetus 
Ketchum has an ear mark recorded in the town book ' 'which is a slit in 
the end of the left Eare," and was recorded by Elisha Colver, Sen., one of 
His Majesty's Justices. 

Knickerbocker. — There have been many families of this name 
in this town and vicinity for a century and a half. Harrnan Jansen Knick- 
erbocker born in Friesland, Holland, who came to America about 1670 and 
settled at Fort Orange, Albany, is said to have been the American ancestor. 
His wife was Elisabeth Van De Bogart whom he married in Albany. They 
had five sons and two daughters born in order named : Harman, Lawrence, 
Cornelius, Jane, Evert, Pieter and Cornelia, who married John Vosburgh, 
who with some of the Knickerbocker brothers at Sundry times from 1704 
to 1723 purchased lands of Peter Schuyler lying in his patent in Red Hook 
around Tivoli and Madalin and settled there. The Vosburgs and Knicker- 
bockers of that vicinity are their descendants. Harman of the above 
brothers drifted to the lower Oblong valley and settled on the late Joseph 
Belden farm near the border of Amenia and Dover where he deceased in 
1805, a°-ed 93, and was buried in the family burial yard near the Belden 
residence. The Beekman Knickerbockers are said to be his descendants. 
In 1711 he deeded lands in south part of Amenia to Cornelius Knicker- 
bocker who later, in 1743, was living in Salisbury, Conn. , on a farm which 
in 1748 he exchanged with Capt. John Sprague on Gay street north of 
Sharon near a pond, which was called "Knickerbocker's Pond." He de- 
ceased there 1776 aged eighty-four. Lawrence of the above brothers had a 
son Peter who married Margaret Bain and settled near Mount Ross. He 
had sons Philip, Lawrence, Peter, Benjamin, James, John, Hugh and 
daughters Elisabeth and Margaret. Margaret married Hugh Rhea, a 
prominent man in his time in old North East. Benjamin of the above 
brothers had a son Benjamin who was the father of Henry B. Knicker- 
bocker a successful farmer now living about three miles east of the village. 
Hugh, another brother, married Rachel Stickle and had sons, Peter, John, 
Valentine, Hugh, Frederick, Benjamin, William, Henry and daughters 
Elisabeth, Mary, Margaret, Nancy and Adaline, thirteen in all. Many are 
the descendants of this family in name and by marriage by other najbes. 
James another brother above married Maria Dennis and are the parents < C 
the late Jonas Knickerbocker of the village, (See cut p. 159). He was fo« 
many years a partner with Col. Silas Harris in the manufacture of the 
Harris scythes (see Harris Scythes) and after the decease of Col. Harris 
continued the business above for about two years. He then built a store 
building at the Duchess Railroad Depot, now occupied by John He*!^ 
and kept hardware principally. He retired from the store in 1886, ;, nd 
from active business having in his life time accumulated a competo 



/ 



LINEAGE. 367 

His wife was Miss Jane C. Drake, daughter of Samuel Drake of Amenia. 
She deceased March 9, 1895, and he deceased March 10, 1896, aged eighty, 
two, each at the home in Pine Plains. A daughter and a son are now 
living in the parental dwelling. 

Liillie, James, son of David, a farmer of Litchfield, Conn., came to 
Pine Plains in 1813, and entered the law office of Stephen Eno as a student 
and clerk. Not long after coming here he married Clara Couch, daughter 
of John Couch (see lineage) a sister to the wife of Justus Booth who came 
to Pine Plains in 1809. Mr. Lillie after his marriage moved to Canaan, 
Conn. , lived there two or three years, then returned to Pine Plains and 
lived in a small house on the site of the now Charles Wilber dwelling, 
where he deceased in 1838. His children were Helen, Joanna, and John 
Whitfield. Joanna married Hiram Wheeler of Pine Plains, John Whit- 
field went to Pokeepsie, was a merchant and deceased in 1881. Helen 
married Rufus White, a harness maker at Pine Plains. He was born in 
Milan, worked at his trade with William Wooden of Pine Plains, and com- 
menced on his own account as successor to Isaac Hammond in the build- 
ing on the now Charles Morgan corner, and later in a building west of the 
now Opera House which he occupied for about five years, then went to 
Milan where later he deceased. His wife deceased in 1892, and they have 
descendants. Mr. Leonard F. Requa, of the "Insulated Wire Co.," of New 
York, married a daughter. 

Ix'wis, Israel, Daniel and Jonathan, three brothers, the first of the 
name in this vicinity settled in northern Stanford about 1765. Israel and 
Daniel purchased lands in the Great Nine Partners, containing nearly all 
of the respective farms of the late Phineas K. Sackett, and the late 
Ezra B. Hoag and the now Judge Barnard farm at Attlebury Station. Is- 
rael lived on the Phineas K. Sackett farm, and he and his family are said 
to have been buried in the old cemetery east of the Sackett Corners. Their 
headstones are gone excepting one there 1880 to Daniel I. Lewis. Daniel, 
one of the three brothers, lived on the now Judge Barnard farm at Attle- 
bury. 

Lewis, Israel, his children, Israel, Benjamin, George, Daniel I., 
Jemima, one other daughter who married John Rowe of Milan. George 
married a Miss Wooley, and each deceased of the epidemic of 1812. Israel 
never married. Benjamin never married, was executor to the estate of his 
brother George. He deceased about 1814. Jemima married Henry Stew- 
art, a weaver. The}' had a daughter Catherine who deceased in 1795, at 
the age of ten years. Her father deceased in 1820, aged 72, and the 
mother in 1826, aged 59. The three were buried in the old cemetery east 
of Sackett Corners. 

Ijewis, Daniel, his children, Daniel, Jonathan, Phebe and Hannah. 
Phebe married Isaac Smith, Esq., of Federal Square, son of Judge Isaac. 
Hannah was the second wife of Gilbert Thome, of Stissing, (his first wife 



368 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

was Cynthia Mead. ) Daniel married Ruth Mabbett and lived on the now 
Judge Barnard farm, near Attlebury. Tradition says his father built the 
house there for him. His wife was of a wealthy family. Her mother 
lived and deceased there, and a sister Susan lived also with them. He de- 
ceased in 1845, aged 71, and Ruth his widow deceased in 1854, aged 76. 
The father Danied deceased in 1798, aged 75, and the three were buried in 
the Smith cemetery at Federal Store. This Daniel Lewis, Jr., had several 
children, of whom a daughter Elizabeth was the wife of Benjamin Hoag, 
son of Charles Hoag, of Pine Plains. 

l<ewis, Jonathan, physician so called, but never practiced as a pro- 
fession, married a Miss Groesbeck, a family of high standing. He in 1776, 
and possibly earlier, was a merchant in North East Precinct, probably in 
the old log store west of the village, later occupied by Ebenezer Dibblee. 
In 1769 he sold corn to Morris Graham. When the war of the revolution 
came he took the English side, was called a tory, and emigrated to Nova 
Scotia. At the close of the war be returned, but taunt and reproach and 
the defeat of the tories, caused him to commit suicide by hanging himself 
in the garret of the old log store. (See Dibblee Booth house, p. 315.) This 
was about 1783. Colonel Morris Graham, who had been an officer in the 
seven years' w r ar for American freedom, was a personal friend of "Doctor" 
Lewis, and assisted in taking down the body. Where he was buried is 
unknown to me. His children were, Jonathan G. (Groesbeck), Hannah, 
Polly, and one other daughter who married General Obadiah Germond. 
She with her husband emigrated to Chenango County, N. Y. , and had sev- 
eral children. She committed suicide on a certain Sunday by hanging 
herself in an apple tree. Jonathan G. was a clerk for Judge Smith in 
the Federal Store at the Square, where he deceased suddenly in 1810, aged 
35, and was buried in the Smith cemeteiy there. It was said he committed 
suicide. Polly married — — ? Sutherland. Hannah married, 1st, Ebenezer 
Husted, son of Major Ebenenezer Husted, and lived in Washington town 
or Verbank, Duchess County, had three children, Gertrude, Eben and 
Lewis. She married, 2d, Isaac Huntting, of Stanford. After his decease 
in 1829 she moved to Pittsford, Monroe County, N. Y., whither her daugh- 
ter Gertrude had previously emigrated, where she deceased in 1855. 

I i<i mloia. Jonathan. The Landons appear on Long Island. In Feb- 
ruary 1668, one Thomas Landon, of Hempstead, received six pounds as 
bounty " In killing half a dozzen wolves." Whether or not he was the 
American ancestor is unknown to me. Jonathan Landon above, has lin- 
eage from Nathan from Herfordshire, England, who in 1686 owned 
lands in Southhold, Long Island. He deceased at Southhold March 9, 
1718, aged 54. His wife Hannah deceased there in 1701, aged 30. They 
had three sons, Nathan, James and Samuel. Nathan had the homestead, 
but later it came to his brother Samuel, who was born May 20, 1699, and in 
1720 married Bethiah, daughter of Henry Tuthill, of Southhold. The Tut- 



LINEAGE. 369 

hills were of the earliest settlers of Southhold, and of Enghish descent. 
John Tuthill, 1st, was a magistrate, and a man of much prominence in the 
early history of Southhold. The blood of Kings and Wells are also mixed 
in the above families in Southhold of Colonial days. 

Samuel Landon was a Justice of the Peace there from 1764 to 1775 and 
a Judge in the Court of Common Pleas, and in public councils was associated 
with Hugh Gelston, William Smith and others of like repute. Samuel 
Landon and Bethiah Tuthill had six sons and four daughters. David and 
Jonathan, two of the younger brothers, were twins, and were born in the 
ancestral Landon homestead in Southhold, October 30, 1743. Jonathan 
came to North East Precinct probably at the solicitation of the Grahams 
and Morrises, Landon being then a resident of Westchester County, in 
1773, and in that year surveyed and subdivided Lots 48 and 49 of the James 
Graham estate to the respective heirs. (See Graham Lineage p. 348.) He 
had married Isabella Graham, a daughter of James Graham, one or two 
years previous, so by marriage he was one of the heirs. He was elected 
clerk of the Precinct in 1776, and the revolutionary war breaking out that 
year, enterprise and improvements were brought to a stand still. The 
Grahams and their kin in this vicinity were ardent patriots. Landon en 
tered the service, was Lieutenant Colonel, member of Committee of Safety, 
member of the Provincial Congress, in 1775-6-7, state senator in 1779, and 
a committee-man on nearly every public question of the times. He was a 
member of the convention from Duchess County that adopted the constitu- 
tion, attending the same from the day it was reported by the select com- 
mittee until its adoption, that is, from March 6 to April 20, 1777, and voted 
yes. Lewis Graham held the same position from Westchester County. 
The war over, he was prominent in the civil duties and organizations of 
the town, was the leading justice of the peace many years subsequent to 
1782, (Note — I have his docket,) and an attorney in the courts atPokeepsie. 
He built a house and barn on the portion of the James Graham estate which 
came to his wife Isabella, which is now the farm and residence of Robert 
Thomas, near the village, one of his descendants. The barn is there now, 
the house is gone. His marriage license bears date December 11, 1771. 
(See Graham, Isabella Lineage p. 347.) Mr. Landon deceased at his home 
1815, and was buried in the family burial ground near the old dwelling. 
He has no headstone. His widow, Isabella Graham Landon, deceased in 
1828. 

Mac Donald, John, at Shacameco lead mines in revolutionary 
war, (see p. 79,) was a descendant of the family of Mac Donalds, who took 
part in the rebellion under the Stewarts, and were in the battle at 
Culloden. The coat of arms is a sea, a ship and a bloody hand. Flora 
Mac Donald, the ancestor of John above, was one of the brothers at the 
battle of Culloden, and at the battle of Prestonpans where he was 
wounded. He was a supporter of the House of Stewarts. John, above, 



370 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

came to this country near 1775, landed in New York and soon after went 
to Kingston, built a house which was soon after burned with all his 
papers, among them his genealogy and papers pertaining to his estate in 
Scotland. He was an Earl and his wife was Arabella Mac Gregor. Ann, 
his daughter, was five years old when he came to America. He moved 
from Kingston to the Shacameco lead mines, working them under the 
direction of the committee of "Lead, Sulphur and Flint." He moved 
from thence to Ulster county. His daughter Ann, later, was the instructor 
of Judge Smith's children at the Square, and later took a lively interest in 
the management of the Johnson Smith farm near Lithgow. I have no 
knowledge of the decease of John Mac Donald. An old cemetery near the 
Andrus Rowe Corners is the "Mac Donald cemetery" where some of his 
descendants were buried. It has been badly mutilated by some of this 
family and some headstones misplaced or gone. Susan and Ann Mac 
Donald, some years since living at Lithgow, were his grand-daughters. 

Massey, William, (see cut, p. 127,) is son of James, who came to 
Pine Plains in 1854 and lived there until 1894, when he moved to Red 
Hook, where he is now (1897) living. William took to photography and 
opened a gallery in Pine Plains in 1890, and has attained to eminence in 
this art. With two or three exceptions the cuts in this volumn are made 
from his photographs, many of them taken from portraits and many 
others copied from daguerreotypes and old work of that sort. He has a 
wife and lives in the village. 

Mead, Nathaniel, was an early settler in now Milan, then North 
East Precinct. He was a descendant of the sixth son of John Mead 2d, 
one of the earliest settlers at Horse Neck, now Greenwich, Conn. His 
wife was Martha ? He held many offices in the Precinct organiza- 
tion and later when a town. His children living in 1798 were Hannah, 
Semantha, Richard, Sarah, John, Elizabeth and Walter. 

Head, Walter, settled in Pine Plains, was a cabinet maker, built a 
shop on the west part of now Elizabeth Bostwick dwelling lot, which later 
in 1880 was moved by Electus B. Chamberlain, his successor, to South 
Street and set next north of Cole's drug store, where it is now, the oldest 
in appearance of any building in the village. The old clapboards are on. 
It has always been used for cabinet work, the late Henry Engelkee being 
its last occupant and is now part of his estate. The old shop was 16x38, 
and when first built it was used for Methodist meetings, he being one of 
the members of the first class organization in the town. (See Methodist 
church, p. 197.) He was an accomplished workman, made long clock 
frames and other kinds of furniture now to be found in old homesteads. 
He moved from here to Cairo, Greene county, N. Y., in 1827, where later 
he deceased. He married Miss Elizabeth Winans, and they had several 
children. One child only, a daughter, is now living in Cleveland, Ohio, 
over eighty years old. He has descendants living in the town. 



LINEAGE. 371 

Myers, Jonas, Lieut. , born 1746,. was a Palatine and on coming to 
"North East" settled on the now Mulford Wheeler Corners near Pulvers 
Corners, where he kept tavern and a store in a yellow building standing 
on the site of the now wagon house on the west corner. He had two sons 
by his first wife — James and Jonas, who succeeded to the property at the 
decease of the father in 1807. Jonas Myers' second wife was Esther Conk- 
lin, eldest daughter of Eleazer Conklin and Temperance Huntting, who 
had settled on the now Barret farm in 1781. (See Conklin, Eleazer, 
Lineage, p. 324.) By this marriage there were four children, Henry C, 
(Conklin) John, Mary and Esther. Mary married Peter Knickerbocker. 
Esther married Jacob Strever. 

Myers, Henry C, son of Jonas, in 1834 married Margaret, widow of 
Andreas Pulver, then in the hotel, now Stissing House, at Pine Plains. 
(See cut of him, p. 171, and hotels, p. 292.) There were two daughters by 
this marriage — Elizabeth and Margaret, who married respectively Benja- 
min Rysdorf and Ebenezer Husted. Each have descendants. Mr. Myers 
was a popular landlord, industrious and enterprising, and accumulated a 
good property. While keeping the hotel he purchased the now Sydney 
Smith farm one and a half miles south of the village, where he deceased in 
1868, having retired from the hotel in 1867. 

Myers, Henry, son of John, married Frances Pulver, daughter of 
Andreas Pulver. He was a successful cattle broker several years in New 
York and in the early '60's purchased the farm at Halcyon Lake, where 
he lived until his decease a few years since. His widow and daughter 
Mary lived there until the sudden decease of Mrs. Myers in May, 1897, 
leaving the daughter sole proprietor. 

Myers, William, wagon maker, came to Pine Plains in the 1840's, 
had a shop west of Stissing House on the site of the now tin shop. He 
had several children, his sons John and Walter T., succeeding to the 
business and continued it until the "Factory Wagon" supplanted the 
wagon made at the country wagon shop. The two brothers then en- 
gaged in "undertaking," succeeding Henry Englekee. They are now 
( 1897 ) in that business and Walter T. has a furniture and household 
furnishing store. 

Horthrnp, Elijah B., was son of George and Anna Booth, of 
Newtown, Conn. , son of Captain Jonathan and Ruth Booth, of Old Milford, 
Conn. , son of Lieut. John and Mary Porter, of Milford, son of Jeremiah, 
of Milford, son of Joseph from Yorkshire, England, one of the first settlers 
in Milford in 1639. George Northrup, father of Elijah B., married 1st, 
Mary Kimberly in 1782, and had three children, Jonathan, Anna and 
Phebe. He married 2d, Annna Booth, daughter of Richard Booth. They 
had children, Booth, Elijah Booth, Ziba, Nicholas, Phebe and Lucy A. 
Parents and children all born in Newtown, Conn. Elijah B. came to 
Pine Plains in 1815, probably at the suggestion of Justus Booth, who was 



372 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

one of the Newtown or Milford Booths. Mr. Northrup was a carpenter 
and on his coming engaged to build the "Union meeting house." 
Possibly he came for that purpose. He introduced the system of "the 
square rule " in framing. The timbers for the frame of the church were 
donated in the trees which were felled and hewn in the forest and framed 
where they had fallen, after the manner of building Solomon's temple. 
It was a new departure in carpenter work, and when the sticks from the 
sundry forests were brought together, the several pieces fitted in their 
respective places according to the design of master mechanic Northrup. 
He completed the building, and the finish and work inside were deemed 
worthy of great praise. Soon after his coming here he married Joanna 
Couch, a daughter of John Couch and Rhoda Bennett, who was a sister to 
the wife of Justus Booth. Their children, all born in Pine Plains and in 
the order named, were Jane E., Lucy Ann, Harriet, Frances, Charles 
Booth and Mary Emma. These, lived to over adult age. Three infants 
were buried in Pine Plains. Mr. Northrup and all his family were upright, 
consistent Christians, members of the Presbyterian church society which 
was organized in 1837 in the meeting house he had built, and he was its 
first ruling elder which office he held many years. This family and the 
other branches of the Couch family (see John Couch Lineage p. 322) were 
great supports to Mr. Sayre in the early years of his ministry here. They 
were not wealthy but workers and true, and ever had a warm side for 
their pastor. Mr. Northrup was a very busy man in his own business, 
never idle. His children were industrious, honorable and self supporting. 
The family lived in the now Charles Wilber cottage which Mr. Northrup 
originally built, and has since been repaired. They left Pine Plains many 
years since, some of the children married and settled in Newark, N. J., 
where possibly some descendants are now living. Mr. Northrup moved 
there and deceased June 29, 1860, aged 69. He was buried in Bridgeport, 
Conn. He was of small stature, about 5 ft. 7, sanguine, nervous tempera- 
ment, quick in action and of great endurance, a sort of steel wire constitu- 
tion, yet too light in structure to stand the continuous strain. 

Orr, Robert, the first of the name, was a resident in now Milan, 
" North East Precinct," in 1769, and David about the same time, and Hugh 
in 1774. The Orr farm was just this side of now Smith Ferris. David de- 
ceased in 1803, leaving sons David, Matthew, Watson and William. A 
daughter married Benjamin Toms, who has descendants bearing his name, 
but none of the name Orr are in the town. 

JPine Tree. See him on Pine Street, page 37. He and his brothers 
were the earliest settlers in the town, immigrants from an unknown 
land. They were here when the Wappinger and Mohican made their 
outline survey and placed boundaries to his respective hunting grounds. 
To the pine tree the Indian was ever reverent. He esteemed him as his 
own kin, and he longed to be buried under his branches. This pine tree is 



LINEAGE. 373 

about the last of his race on " the pine plains," and has lingered to mark 
the site where the Mohican who hunted in these forests of hill and valley 
buried their dead. Beneath or near this tree were buried the last Mohican 
chief of the clan in this vicinity. Children of nature only could have se- 
lected so beautiful a place for quiet, lengthy rest. As buried they are 
sitting in their graves looking eastward over their beloved valley nearly an 
hundred feet below — it is significant that the location precludes the build- 
ing of any obstruction to this landscape view — where now as then, only in 
diminished volume, goes on their favorite Shacameco, the fishing stream 
for eels. Beyond the valley are smooth and rougher hills in mingled 
heights, varied in shadings as near and more l'emote, and further still are 
Takhanicks, of Indian name, greater and grander than all. In their dis- 
tance they meet the sky. These chiefs there sleeping have their backs to 
their fishing Stissing lakes, and Stissing Mountain, and the distant pinna- 
cled heights of Katterskill, for these and all else to the setting sun are to 
them as nought. They are waiting for the rising sun. Over them stands 
this old pine tree, their monument, not of cold granite for that belongs to 
white man. For these forest Indian men a kind and unforgetting Provi- 
dence has kept the woodman's ax away, and preserved this native pine 
for their memorial tree. Dwarfed and broken in its branches it still is 
green perennial, emblem of eternal life. In the warm breath of spring 
and early summer, in the midsummer's sun at " raging noon," in thunder 
storm and Tempest, in the brown ripeness of the mellow autumn, in win- 
ter's storm to spring again it is the same unchanged in its memorial mis- 
sion, and as the winds play upon its tuneful leaves, it sings requiems in 
minor tones of the deceased red men at its feet, and of its own brothers 
all long since gone. His departure too will come. "Dead like a pine 
stump," said the Greeks when one had no descendants. No sprout will 
ever come from this old Pine Tree. 

Phillips a portrait painter, although not a resident of Pine Plains, 
yet was in this vicinity earlier and later than 1820, and painted many por- 
traits in families residing in Stanford, Pine Plains, Northeast, Amenia, 
Connecticut and Massachusetts. These are in existence, are considered 
good and have stood the test of time in color. He painted one of Nelson 
De Lavergne, and a man said to me " it looks more natural than Nels 
does himself." In 1844 he painted a banner with Polk and Dallas life size, 
for the campaign, which received favorable comment. He was a native of 
Massachusetts, Berkshire County, where he was born April 24, 1788. He 
married. 1st, Laura Brockway, of Rensselaer Co. , N. Y. , had three sons 
and one daughter. Married, 2d, Jane Ann Caulkins. of Northeast, had 
three daughters and one son. He deceased in Curtisville, Berkshire Co., 
Mass., in July, 1866. 

Pinney, Ambrose L., came from Albany and settled at Lafayette- 
ville, a tailor. He studied law, and was contemporaneous in practice with 



374 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Otis E. Bowman He lived at Lafayette about twenty years, moved to 
Red Hook, and from thence to New York where he deceased. 

Pugsley, William, Mary and Edward are the earliest I mention. 
William married Catharine Bockee, sister of Jacob the father of "Judge " 
Abraham Bockee. Mary married Benjamin Carpenter, father of Daniel, 
Morgan, Piatt and Hannah. Edward married Mary Lapham, daughter of 
Solon Lapham. 

Pugsley, William, and Catharine Bockee. had children William, 
Phebe, Edward, Abraham, Walter, Samuel and Mary. Mary never mar- 
ried. William married Deborah Mathison, no children. Edward (Dr.) 
married Penelope Sharp, lived in Ghent Columbia County, deceased there. 
Had children Caroline, Alida, Eugene, Edward. Abraham, brother to Ed- 
ward (Dr.) above, married Semantha Reynolds, daughter of Stephen Rey- 
nolds. Had children Mary and a daughter who married V Ridgvvay, 

and a son Cornelius. Waltf.r (Dr.) brother to Edward (Dr.) married, 1st, 

? had children Abraham, Henry. Married 2d, ? had children Wal- 

terina, Fred. Walter (Dr.) the father lived at one time just south of Smith- 
field. Moved from thence to Pokeepsie. Phebe. sister to Edward (Dr.) 
above, married Robert Hoag, had children Annette, Frances, William, 
Jane, Catharine, Edward. 

Pugsley, Edward, brother to William and Mary, first mentioned, 
married Mary Lapham, daughter of Solon Lapham, had children VanAllen, 
Benjamin, Cornelius, Jacob, Theodore, Elisabeth, Maria and Margaret. Mar. 
garet never married. Van Allen married Semantha PerLee, daughter Gen. 
Edmund Per Lee, had children. Benjamin married Maria Tabor, daugh- 
ter of Noah Tabor and Hannah Carpenter, a daughter of Benjamin Carpen- 
ter, had children. Cornelius married Nancy Perry, sister to Dr. Jno. Perry, 
at one time a physician in Pine Plains, had children. Jacob married Mary 
Ketchum, daughter of Job Ketchum, of Dover. He lived at Separate, had 
children. Elisabeth married Allen Thompson and lived in Pine Plains, had 
children. Maria married Colonel Silas Harris, of Pine Plains, had chil- 
dren. Besides these families of Pugsley there was a Stephen Pugsley 
who lived on the " Shannon farm " west of the Square. Had children, a 
daughter Elisabeth married Jesse Thompson, a prominent man in "North 
East Precinct." (See Jesse Thompson lineage.) 

Patterson, Charles, was in Pine Plains in 1826, from Mount Wash- 
ington township, Mass. He was son of Levi, son of Charles who emigrated 
from New Fairfield, Conn., to Mount Washington, in 1772. and was one of 
the proprietors who obtained a tract of land in that township from the 
Massachusetts colony. His^vife was Martha Hall. His father's name was 
Andrew, whose wife was a Miss Lathrop, and he had a brother Andrew. 
Charles bought forty acres in Mount Washington of Samuel Dibble, or 
Dibblee, a relative of Ebenezer Dibblee. Charles Patterson, Sr., had sons 
Levi and Lathrop. Lathrop emigrated to Ohio. Levi lived in Mount 



LINEAGE. 375 

Washington, married '? had children Charles, Eliza, Maria, Helen, 

Martha. Charles (in this lineage) married Louisa Mead, of Pine Plains. 
She deceased in Sharon, Connecticut, and was buried in Pine Plains. He 
deceased later in Ontario County, N. Y., was buried in Pine Plains. 
They have descendants. Edward L. , a son, has been for a long time con- 
nected with the passenger department of the " Big 4 " line. He resides in 
Cleveland, Ohio. Of the sisters of Charles, above, Eliza married Origen 
Lampson, of Mount Washington. She deceased there, and he emigrated 
to Ohio. Maria married Killeon Whitbeck, of Mount Washington, and each 
deceased of cholera in the fall of 1849 Had children Orrin, Henry, Jane, 
Helen, Augusta, Angeline, Martha. The Whitbeck homestead is now in 
the family. Helen Patterson married James Woodworth, of Mount Riga. 
Maria never married. 

Pulver, modern, old records say Polver, Bolver. There are many 
families of the name in the town. Peter W. and his son Wandel jointly 
in 1772, purchased three hundred and fifty acres at Pulvers Corners. He 
had children Andreas, Wandel, John, Catharine, Katriney (Gertrude ? ) 
Christina, Elisabeth. Andreas, the son, was a resident of the town, pre- 
vious to the purchase of the farm by his father Peter and Wandel his son, 
at Pulvers Corners in 1772. January 24, 1771, he had children Andreas 
and Gertrude baptised at the " Round Top " church at Bethel, and lived at 
the time on the now Harman Pulver farm at the brook east of the Righter 
farm. He emigrated to North Chatham, deceased and was buried there. 
His wife was buried in the Knickerbocker cemetery. Her maiden name 
was Link. They had daughters Susannah, Caty, Gertrude, Mary, Eva, 
Lena, and sons Peter, Wandel, Nicholas and Andreas. Nicholas succeeded 
to the farm, and lived there until his decease in 1850. His wife was Mary 
(Polly) Parks. She deceased in 1856. They had sons and daughters. An- 
dreas, a son who married Margaret Thomas, a daughter of Beriah Thomas, 
kept the hotel now Stissing House from 1825 to 1832, where and when he 
deceased. He had three daughters, Mary, Frances and Cornelia. Mary 
married Lewis D. Hedges, has descendants. She, a widow, lives (1897) in 
Pine Plains. Frances married Henry Myers, has descendants, deceased in 
May, 1897, and Cornelia married Egbert Van Wagner, has descendants and 
is living (1897). There are many branches of the Pulver family in the 
town. They were Palatines and church people. " Wandel Polver," possi- 
bly the American Talatine ancestor, was one of four on behalf of the Ger- 
man Reformers, to complete the sale and division of the first Palatine 
church in Rhinebeck in 1729. (See p. 152.) They have been from that time 
to the present, generally of this creed, and estimable men and women re- 
spectively in civic and domestic life. 

Peck, Richard, (page 227,) lawyer, son of Henry Peck, of Stanford, 
came to Pine Plains in 1840, established a law office and was a resident of 
the town until his decease December 18th, 1878. In politics he was an ar- 



376 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

dent whig, and later a republican and took an active part in town mat- 
ters. He deceased a bachelor leaving a comfortable estate. He built a 
fine dwelling now owned by his sister, Mrs. Jane Smith, who with her 
daughter Frances now lives there, and in its surroundings of leaf and 
flower is the most attractive home in the village. 

Righter, William — Richter (German) — was the first of the name in 
Pine Plains. He settled on the Righter corners about one and a half miles 
east of the village. (See cut of the old house p. 95.) He came from Red 
Hook, was a descendant of the Palatine emigration, 1710-13. He married 

Miss ? Cole, had children Elisabeth, Catharine, Maria, William, John. 

Each married, some emigrated, and others settled near by. John married 
Hannah Harris, daughter of John Harris, the scythe manufacturer, and 
succeded to the homestead, where he deceased. He was prominent in 
the councils of the town. He had several children, one of whom, John, 
succeeded to the Righter homestead, and now lives there. He married 
Miss Caroline Rider, of Stanford, and they have descendants. 

Reynolds, Israel Di\ , son of Stephen, of the " City," now Smithfield, 
Duchess County, appears on the records in 1795. and was a resident with 
his family in 1798. See page 301, and following, for more of him. He was 
a physician but never engaged in active practice after he came to Pine 
Plains, then North East. The following is a copy of his certificate as phy- 
sician, on file in Pokeepsie: 

Dutchess County, ) 
State of New York, \ 

I, Isaac Bloom, one of the Judges of said county, do, pursu- 
ant of the directions of a Statute entitled ' ' an act to regulate Physic and 
Surgery in this State " passed the 23d day of March, 1797, certify that 
rsrael Reynolds of the town of North East, in Dutchess County, has pro- 
duced satisfactory evidence to me by the oath of Stephen Reynolds of the 
town of Amenia, in said County that he the said Israel Reynolds has piac- 
ticed phsyic and surgery within this state for more than two years pro- 
ceeding the first day of October, 1797. Given under my hand and seal this 
13th day of October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety seven. 

Isaac Bloom. 

This is to certify that the above is a true copy of the certifiate remain- 
ing on file in the clerks office of Dutchess County, Oct, 24, 1797. 

Teunis Tappin, Dept. C. Clerk. 

Dr. Reynolds introduced the mail route in Pine Plains (see Post Routes 
and Mail Routes p. 301) and was innkeeper at the Stissing House from 1806 
to 1823, inclusive. He deceased at Pine Plains March 28, 1824, aged 51. 
His wife was Deborah Dorr, who deceased a widow June 6, 1850, aged 79. 
They had several children. A daughter Eliza married Hiram Wilson, who 
for many years was a resident of Pine Plains. Israel R. Wilson, of 
Amenia, is a son of Hiram. There are many other descendants of Dr. 
Israel Reynolds in this vicinity. 

Reynolds, Caleb from "Horse Neck," Fairfield County, Conn.,. 



LINEAGE. 37T 

where many of the name lived, came to Pine Plains, then North East, in 
1773, and settled on the hill north of the Phineas Carman Mills. He married 
Sarah Brown, a grand-daughter of James Winans, had children Abrahams, 
David, Daniel, Nathaniel, Isaac, John, Caleb, AnnaRhuama, Phebe, Clara. 
There are many descendants. Nathaniel was the last resident of these 
brothers on a portion of the ancestral acres. One of his sons, Alfred, is 
now living on the homestead. Caleb Reynolds at his decease owned about 
five hundred acres in one farm. His stock ear mark was a "happenny 
under the left ear," and recorded May 11, 1773. 

Ru<l<l, Charles, (See p.121.) son of Reuben, son of Bezaleel, who was 
a First Lieutenant (p. 49) in the 6th Regiment of Continentals. N. Y., in the 
revolutionary war, came to Pine Plains in the '40s, and later in 1850 settled on 
the farm where he now lives about two miles northwest of the village. He 
married Frances Falk, a descendant of Isaac Smith, Esq., of Pine Plains. 
They had children, sons and daughters, some have married and have de- 
scendants living in the town. Mrs. Rudd deceased September 7, 1895, in 
her 67th year. Mr. Rudd's residence is in the town of Gallatin, Columbia 
County, and he has been active and influential in the government of that 
town. He is industrious, social;' generous, decisive, has been a successful 
farmer, does his own thinking and governs himself accordingly. , 

Rowe, Johannes, known as Moravian John "Rau," was the first of 
the name in the town. In 1740 he lived on the south part of the Steger, 
now Sackett, farm. His son John settled in now Milan, and is the ances- 
tor of the name years since numerous in that town. Descendants of his 
emigrated to Columbia County, near Niverville and live there now. Jo- 
hannes Rowe, Sr., later emigrated to Amenia, where he deceased in 1768. 

Rowe, Michael, said to have been a brother of Johannes, was an early 
settler in the south part of the town, and was the ancestor of the many 
families of two and three generations living fifty years ago in the south- 
east part of the town and in the town of Northeast adjoining. Only two 
or three are living now in that vicinity bearing the name, and they live 
in Northeast, and Walter Rowe and one other are all of the name in Pine 
Plains of this branch. A genealogy of all the families for sixty years 
back would make a large volume. 

Stewart, Richard, James, William and Henry, were the original im- 
migrants from England. James and William were the ancestors of the 
name in Stanford, Milan and Pine Plains. 

Stewart, James, had sons William, John and James, and three 

daughters, one of whom married ? Ruggles, another married '? 

Dunning, the third daughter married, name unknown. He was captain 
of the third company in the 5th Regimentals, of which Lewis Dubois w r as 
Colonel. Capt. Stewart was mustered in Nov. 21, 1776, and remained in 
the service to January, 1781. William Bentley was a private in his com- 
pany. Mustered Dec. 28, 1776. Deceased July 25, 1777. 



378 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Stewart, William, had sons John, Richard, William, Henry (Col.) 
James and Andrew. Had a daughter who married Dr. Uri Judd, and an- 
other daughter who married ? Hermance. William, of the above sons, 

had two daughters, one married Colonel Gilbert Bently, the other mar- 
ried William Eno, of Pine Plains Henry W. (Colonel) of the above broth- 
ers married Phebe Sherrill, had sons Sherrill, William, Edward, Henry 
and Huntting. Had daughters : Julia married ? Rowe ; Jane never mar- 
ried ; Eliza married ? Bushnell, had a daughter Henrietta who was well 

known in this vicinity and later m New York city as an accomplished 
lady. 

Stevenson, Nathaniel, (wife Content) was the first of the name in 
the town. In 1792 he was a resident of " Pawling Precinct, in Dutchess 
County." January 6, 1798, he was a resident of Beekman, and on that 
date purchased of Joseph Winter, an attorney at law in New York city, 376 
acres in " North East," which later was known as the " Stevenson farm." 
It was part of the original Morris Graham farm including the ' 'Stone House" 
about two miles south of the village. (See cut of the house p. 52.) His 
children were James, Thomas, Joshua, William, Salmon, Job, Sophia and 
Patience. The father deceased in 1801, and Content his wife about 1804. 
Jnmes and Thomas then managed the farm down to 1810. The fulling 
mill at Mount Ross had a biil against James in 1804 for cloth dressing 
amounting to $5.31, and one against Thomas in 1807 for similar work 
of 1 pound and 3 pence. In 1808 the saw mill at Mount Ross had a bill 
against Thomas for sawing felloe plank 20 shillings, and in same year bill 
for cloth dressing 2 pounds and 11 shillings. In 1810 the farm came into 
the ownership of Salmon and William by the foreclosure of a mortgage at 
the time of purchase which had come to Isaiah Dibble. The family except 
Job, made this their home, however, until 1819, when Job who had been 
absent returned and purchased William's interest. In 1821 William emi- 
grated to Canada. Six weeks after he left Job and Salmon sold the farm 
to Andreas Hoysradt. William settled in Canada, where in 1824 he mar- 
ried Jane Anderson, and deceased there a hotel keeper in 1838, leaving a 
widow and four children. His widow deceased in April, 1893. William, 
one of the children, now (1897) lives in Denver, Colorado, and is engaged 
in mining and insurance. Job Stevenson, one of tha sons above, married 
Hannah Gilbert, daughter of Timothy Gilbert, of Amenia, in January, 
1823, and in May following commenced housekeeping in the Fyler Dibblee- 
Wilson dwelling, now the residence of Walter T. Myers. Here his ekl- 
est son Reuben was born in 1824, who is now well preserved and living in 
Philadelphia. Job his father kept the now Ketterer Hotel in 1827-8, when 
he moved to a farm near Stissing known as the " Palmer farm." Later he 
emigrated west and deceased in Chicago in January, 1856, the result of a 
fall, his head striking the pavement or nagging. His wife had deceased 
August 11, 1850, and was buried in the Collins Cemetery near Colemans 



LINEAGE. 379 

Station. Salmon, Sophia and Patience emigrated to Claverack, Columbia, 
Count}', after the family breakup, and took a hotel. Sophia married George 
Emerick, of that place, December 14, 1825, and soon after went to house 
keeping. Salmon later had a store in Ghent, and I know nothing of him 
later. Patience, when last known of was living in the southern central 
part of this state. 

Smith. Isaac, Esquire, and Tammy Mead his wife came from Horse 
Neck, now Greenwich, Conn., about 1765 and it is said settled on the 
Sackett-Steger farm in the south part of the town. He deceased about 
1821 and was buried in the cemetery, now almost unknown, east of Attle- 
bury Corners, in the north part of Stanford. His wife was buried there 
also. He had a sister, Rachel Smith, who married Ezra Thompson, of the 
Federal Square. He lived where Mr. Hood now lives and it was there in 
1767 his son, Smith Thompson, was born, who graduated at Princton Col- 
lege 1788, studied law with Chancellor Kent and was District Attorney in 
the middle district of New York in 1801, Judge of the New York Supreme 
Court 1802-14, Chief Justice 1814-18, Secretary of the Navy under Presi- 
dent Monroe 1818-23 and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 
1823 to his death, at Pokeepsie, December 18, 1824. Ezra Thompson was 
superintendent of the work of John McDonald at the lead mines at Shaca- 
meco in 1776, in conjunction with Jonathan Landon, by appointment of 
the committee of "Lead, Sulphur and Flint." (See pages 80, 81, 82, 83.) 
He was a delagate to the convention in Po'keepsie to adopt the constitu- 
tion and did not vote. The branch of the Thompson tree from which he 
came were positively English in their opinions, and the majority of them 
took no active part in the cause of the American revolution. Ezra 
Thompson was very deliberate and slow of speech, a general characteris- 
tic of the early race of the Stanford Thompsons. See Ezra Thompson lineage. 

Isaac Smith, Esquire, and Tammy Mead had children, Tammy, Polly, 
Isaac, Reuben, Morris, William and Silas, who lived to an adult age. 
Tammy married David Winans ; Polly married Peter Husted, (see cut of 
her p. 182) and each had large families. Isaac married Hannah Suther- 
land and settled near the south border of now Gallatin, about three miles 
north of Pine Plains village. They had several children, some of whom 
have descendants now in the town. Reuben married Nancy Case and 
settled on the Sheldon-Strever farm in the south part of the town, of which 
he w T as the owner at his decease. They had one daughter, Phebe, who 
married John T. Huntting and their two daughters married and have de- 
scendants now living in Pine Plains village. William married *? Silas 

never married. 

Smith, James ("Judge") and wife, Dorus, brother of Isaac Smith, 
Esquire, about 1760-65 lived on the Isaac Huntting homestead in north 
Stanford, and it is said built the original house there. See marriage of his 
two sons, James and Henry, in Peter Smith lineage. He was called a 
tory. 



380 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Smith, Daniel and two brothers came from England about 1638 and 
■settled in Connecticut. In 1672 Daniel was one of the " 27 Proprietors" of 
Horse Neck, now Greenwich, Fairfield Co. . Conn. He had sons, Daniel, 
Moses, Nathan, Reuben, Benjamin, Ezra, Caleb and a daughter Ruth. It 
is said these had large families. Nathan in an engagement with Indians 
had his leg broken, and resting against a tree he killed three Indians 
before being massacred. 

Smith, Benjamin, of the above brothers was prominent in the 
revolutionary war. He had children Peter, David, Jonah, Solomon 
Deborah, Mary, possibly others. 

Smith, Peter, son of Benjamin above, married Sarah Winans, a 
daughter of James Winans, the first settler of the Winans name in this 
vicinity. They came from Horse Neck about 1770. They had children, 
Peter, Anna, Sarah, Zady, Polly, Susan, Charlotte, James W. , Daniel, 
Walter, Seymour and David. Peter deceased a bachelor. Anna married 
James Smith, son of Judge James above, a brother of Isaac Smith, Esq., 
above noticed. Charlotte married Henry Smith, son of Judge James 
above and brother to the husband of Anna ; had five boys. Sarah married 
William Wilber, had children, Dr. Benjamin S. , Matilda, Sarah, Theron. 
Zady married Joseph Thompson, had children. Polly (Mary) married 1st, 
Nathan Finch, had two daughters and a son ; married 2d, Robert Wilber, 
had sons and daughters, moved to Indiana. Susan deceased unmarried. 
James W. married Sarah Canfield, of New Milford, Conn., lived in south 
part of the town, had sons Isaac C, Leander, Mortimer, Sarah, Thomas, 
Benjamin. Daniel married Cynthia Barlow. Walter married Sarah Wil- 
ber, sister to William Wilber; had children, Louisa, Daniel, Cornelius, 
Peter, Ephriam, Sarah, Ruth Seymour never married, was the founder 
of Seymour Smith Academy, Pine Plains. (See cut of him p. 263.) David 
never married. Peter Smith, the father, deceased November 16, 1820. 
Sarah his wife deceased October 3, 1801. Her daughter Sarah, Mrs. Wil- 
liam Wilber, wrote this epitaph in kind commemoration : 

'Tis one most dear lies buried here. 

A mother, wife and friend, 
Affliction sore she calmly bore, 

Till God her life did end. 
His name she praised, and death he smiled 

To see his conquest won, 
His sting was lost — she sank to rest 

With anthems on her tongue. 

[Note. — Tradition says she deceased singing a hymn.] 
Smith, Johantise — Hontise Tise — was one of the earliest settlers in 
the town. In 1741, on the twentieth of October, he purchased a tract of 
land of Captain Richard Sackett and his sons Richard and John. (See p. 
21). He could not hold this purchase, but later settled on the now (1897) 
Phenix N. Deuel home farm. He was one of the grantees to the Round 



LINEAGE. 381 

Top Church (Bethel) property. He deceased on his farm 1823, leaving 
descendants, and was buried in Round Top cemetery. 

Smith. George, a farmer, lived near the Phineas Carman Mills in the 
1840's and '50s. A daughter of his married William Carman, father of 
Isaac P., supervisor of the town several terms. 

Smith, Aaron, a farmer, had a daughter who married Matthias 
Thompson, has a descendant, Smith Thompson, now a farmer. 

Smith, Coonrad, Philip and Doct. Isaac, in the Federal Square neigh- 
borhood, were of the family of Judge Isaac Smith, of Lithgow, in the town 
of Washington. 

Smith, James, was the ancestor of the families of that name who 
settled on the borders of Pine Plains and Ancram, principally in Ancram. 
He was a Highland Scotchman, his true name Hugh Sutherland. By this 
name he emigrated to this country a soldier in the King's army about the 
middle of the last century, during the French and Indian wars. Later he 
deserted the King's army and joined the American army as James Smith 
to avoid detection and the penalty of desertion. He settled on the hill in 
the south part of Ancram, on the farm recently owned by Isaac Smith be- 
fore his decease, one of his descendants, and where the three sons of alias 
James Smith, Daniel I., Alexander and John, were born. Daniel I. lived 
and died on the old farm. His sons were Peter, John, Aaron, (see Aaron, 
lineage above,) Eli, Isaac and Daniel. His daughters were Nelly, Caty 
and Betsey. All these except Isaac and Daniel married in families not far 
from the homestead locality, and have left many descendants. The ma- 
jority of the descendants in this locality are from the Daniel I. Smith 
branch who was born about 1759. 

Spencer, Alexander, p. 99. 

Sayre, Rev. William N., born at Rensselaerville, Albany County, N. 
Y., March 3, 1808, deceased at Pine Plains November 26, 1896, thanksgiv- 
ing morning. See cut of him p. 190. His wife was Sarah A. Marshall, 
daughter of John Marshall, of Salt Point, Duchess County, N. Y. They 
were married June 4, 1833, and a few weeks later he was chosen pastor of 
the Presbyterian church af Pine Plains, and was its continuous pastor fifty 
years. For more of him see pages 185, 186, and his semi-centennial ser- 
mon, page 189. At his funeral (his wife had deceased several years previ- 
ous) there were three grandchildren, his only descendants, children of his 
son William, two daughters and a son. 

Sheldon. George, was the first of the name in the town, and settled 
about two miles south of the village on the now Sidney Smith farm. 
He came from Dover, in this county, about 1785, had sons Winter, Friend, 
Nathan, David. Winter Sheldon left the town in 1791. Friend Sheldon 
was born in 1766, and about 1788 married Anna Case, a sister of Abner 
Case, and Jonathan Case, and lived on the late Albert Ten Eyck farm two 
miles southwest of the village where, in the winter of 1799-1800, he sent to 



382 HISTORY OP PINE PLAINS. 

district school Isaac, Job, Benjamin, Charlotte and Fannie, all Sheldon s — 
some of these may have been brothers' children. This was in th6 now 
Frank Eno district. In 1804 he emigrated to Taghkanic township, Colum- 
bia County, where he was supervisor in 1815-16, and justice of the peace 
many consecutive years previous to his decease there in 1837. Benjamin, a 
son of his, married, 1st, Sarah Ham, 2d, Hannah Haight. Henry, another 
son, married Catherine Kells. Each have many descendants in Hudson 
and other parts of Columbia County. George Sheldon, in 1801, emigrated 
to Saratoga County, and deceased there. David Sheldon succeeded to the 
George Sheldon farm. His wife was Hannah Parks, had children Richard, 
Lethe, Phebe and Deborah, twins, Eunice, Walter, Jacob, Amy. He de- 
ceased there. August 18, 1829, aged 66 years. Richard, his son, had the 
farm and deceased there Feb. 22, 1835, aged 48. Soon after, the farm 
passed out of the name to Henry C. Myers. 

Nathan Sheldon had daughters Betsey and Tenty. 

Strever, family were German Palatines, .the name being written 
"Striebel. " Johannes or John Striebel is said to have been the ancestor 
of the Pine Plains settlers. The christian name John, has been perpet- 
uated through many generations, and the family tradition is that the 
American ancestor when a lad came with the Palatine immigration in 
1708-11 and was apprenticed to pay his unpaid passage, to a Mr. Couse or 
a Mr. Morehouse, of Milan. There are many instances of this sort of the 
minors in this Palatine immigration. Contemporaneous with John 
Strever was Ulrich "Striebel" and his wif e- " Margaretha, " who were 
sponsors to the baptism of "Johannes," a son of John Mackentire and 
Catharine Strieble, February 24, 1760. This was at the Round Top Church 
at Bethel. 

Strever, John, ancestor, married Maria Dings about 1756. In the 
"Vedder Church" record is "Anna Eva, daughter of Johannes Striebel 
and Maria Dings, baptised Feb. 6, 1758," and " John Adam Striebel, 
baptised June 14, 1760," a son of John and Maria above. 

John Strever and Maria Dings settled on the Jacob Miller farm, about 
a mile south of Ancram lead mines, where the following children were 
born: Anna Eva, John Adam, Jacob, Anna Maria, Eva, Johannes, Benja- 
min. Of these John Adam married Anna Maria Hoysradt, Anna Maria 
married Matthias Hoffman, Eva married Hendrick Hoysradt, Johannes 
married Mary Hoysradt, (the above three Hoysradts were children of 
Hendrick Hoysradt.) Benjamin married Mareah Righter. John Strever 
and his wife deceased on this farm and were buried in the ' ' Dings ceme- 
tery," at now Silvernails station. On his headstone is inscribed: "In 
memory of Johannes Strevel, who departed this life, Feb'y. 24, 1804, aged 
72 years and two months. " 

' 'Let nature in her mourning suit be drest ; 

Since virtue's friend has soared beyond our view, 
And seated in the mansions of the blest, 

Bids this our painful world a long adieu." 



LINEAGE. 383 

On her headstone is "In memory of Maria, wife of John Strevel, who 
departed this life, Feh. 10, 1808, aged 60 years and 16 months." 

" By all creating power we drew our breath, 

And disobedience sentenced us to death ; 
By faith in Christ the whole shall be forgiven. 

Follow my steps my friends ; meet me in Heaven. " 

John Strever 3d — John 1st ancestor, John Adam 2d, called Adam, his 
older brother — in this line married Mary Hoysradt as above, in 1790, (he 
was called " Captain") and settled at the forks of the road, half mile south 
of the village in 1792. The old house was a little south of the present 
white house there, which was built in 1799 and 1800. His children, except 
possibly the eldest, were born here in order named : Polly, Henry, John, 
Adam, Elisabeth, Benjamin, Jacob H., Tammy, Eliza, Fanny. Polly 
married Cornelius Ho3 r sradt. Henry married Elisabeth Snyder. Adam 
married Eliza Eno. Benjamin married Cornelia Snyder. Jacob H. mar- 
ried Abba Marsh. Tammy married John Silvernail. John, Eliza and 
Fanny never married. The majority of these settled near by and there 
are many descendants. " Captain " John Strever deceased June 29, 1832, 
aged 63 years, 11 months and 25 days. There was no minister at the 
obsequies and Aaron E. Winchell had charge of the funeral and made a 
short address. Mary his wife, had deceased March 30, 1822, aged 52. 
Hendrick Hoysradt, one of the earliest settlers in Gallatin, Columbia 
County, and father in-law to Captain Strever, purchased the "Strever 
farm," which then included the Englekee farm at Stissing Lake, June 7, 
1790, of Lewis Graham for 900 pounds, and " Captain" Strever purchased 
the farm of him, June 6, 1807. 

Tnrk, John A., a tailor, came to Pine Plains about 1784. He was a 
descendant of Isaac De Turk, a French Huguenot, who emigrated to New 
York about 1710 with the Palatines, and settled in Sopus. In 1712 Isaac 
De Turk moved to Olney, Pennsylvania. He had a slave " Mary," who is 
recorded as being the mother of a child named Eliza Armstrong, born April 
15, 1810. Mr. Turk, according to his ancestry, was firm and zealous in his 
church relations, which were German Reformed. 

Turner, Cornelius, a cloth dresser, came from Claverack, and 
worked for Jonathan Young who then had charge of the Isaiah Dibble 
carding mill on the "Abraham Dibble farm." (See p. 286.) Turner suc- 
ceeded Young about 1826, lived there until 1837, moved to Abraham Mil- 
ler's in Gallatin, from thence to the Mount Ross mills a short time, and 
from thence to Great Barrington, Mass, where he worked ten years in the 
Russell Woolen Factory. His wife Clarissa deceased while he lived at the 
Dibble carding mill, and was buried in Round Top cemetery. He had sev- 
eral children, some of whom emigrated to Michigan, and have descend- 
ants. 

Tripp, John and Hannah his wife, (Quakers,) came from "Quaker 



384 HISTORY OF TINE PLAINS 

Hill," in the town of Washington about 1790, and settled on what in recent 
years was known as the " Hicks farm," south and adjoining the late Dr. 
Huntting farm in northern Stanford. His sons were Daniel, John, An- 
thony, and these were the ancestors of the Pine Plains families of that 
name. Daniel settled on the Doctor Curly farm, had children James, 
Charity, Daniel, John, Betsey. John settled on Winchell Mountain, had 
children Benjamin, Daniel I., David K., John, Elisha, Anthony, James, 
Hannah, Rachel, Ritta. Anthony settled on the Lewis Keefer farm, (now 
Shultz) had children Henry, Hannah, John, LaFayette. There are many 
descendants of these families now in the town bearing other names by 
marriage. 

Talliiiadg'O, James, Capt. , about 1773, or later, built the now old 
brick house south of Mr. Isaac S. Carpenter's, in northern Stanford. He 
w T as son of James Tallmadge, one of the forty-one original ' ' Proprietors of 
the common and undivided land in the township of Sharon," purchased in 
1738. He married Ann Sutherland, daughter of David Sutherland, of 
Stanford, and this brick house residence of "Captain James Tallmadge" 
had great celebrity in northeastern Duchess for a score of years. The 
justices of North East, Amenia, and Charlotte Precincts held courts 
there during his proprietorship which ceased April 1st, 1797, by the 
sale of the property to Bernard Mathison, who kept open house for 
justice courts many years later. Jonathan Landon was a justice in 
North East Precinct several years succeeding 1779. His docket record 
has these entries "James Ingraham vs. Joseph Thompson, Jr., to appear 
at Capt. James Tallmadge's on New Year's day (1781). James Hallett 
vs. Wra. Reynolds, action on case to be tryed at Capt. Tallmadge's 
New Year's day. Parzi Lapham vs. William Garret, two actions to be 
tryed at Tallmadge's on Monday, 8th January, 1781. Piatt Smith vs. 
Levi De LaVergne, January 24th, at Tallmadge's." At a later date Jesse 
Thompson, Esquire, of North East, John Thompson, Esquire, of Stanford, 
and Esquire Flint, of Amenia, held courts here, indicating the popularity 
of Capt. Tallmadge. After the sale of the property to Mr. Mathison, he 
moved to Pokeepsie where he deceased in 1821. The Duchess Observer of 
December 26th of that year has this notice : Died, at his mansion house in 
Pokeepsie on Friday the 21st December, 1821, in the 78th year of his age, 
Col. James Tallmadge. His remains were deposited in the Baptist burying 
ground, on the Sunday following, attended by his family, a numerous col- 
lection of relatives and friends, the members of Solomon's Lodge, and the 
different religious congregations of the village. He was born in Sharon, 
■Conn., on the 5th day of September, 1744, O. S., and early settled himself 
as a farmer in the county of Duchess. Ardently attached to the cause of 
the American Revolution, he commanded a company of volunteers (see p. 
53) from the county of Duchess, who fought in the battle of Saratoga and 
assisted in the capture of Burgoyne in October, 1777. He was highly re- 



LINEAGE. 385 

spected, and has died greatly lamented." Six years later his widow de- 
ceased, which was noticed in the Pokeepsie Journal of July 18th, 1827 : 
" Died — At Pokeepsie, on the 14th inst. , at the house of her son, General 
James Tallmadge, Mrs. Ann Tallmadge, in the 73d year of her age. She 
was the wife of the late Col. James Tallmadge and a daughter of David 
Sutherland, of Stanford. Her funeral was attended yesterday afternoon 
by a numerous collection of friends and acquaintances." Mrs. Laura Tall- 
madge wife of General James Tallmadge, above, deceased in New York 
city in 1S34, in her 40th year. 

Enos and Moses Tallmadge, of Stanford, were of another family. Na- 
thaniel P. Tallmadge, a noted politician in this county over sixty years ago, 
was a son of Joel Tallmadge, who deceased in the town of Candor, Tioga 
County, in 1834. Nathaniel P. Tallmadge deceased at Battle Creek, Mich, 
in 1864. 

Thompson, Enos, son of Samuel Thompson, of Stanford, is the near 
.ancestor of some early residents bearing the name in this now town boun- 
daries. He was born August 18, 1717, emigrated from New Haven to 
Duchess, and settled on the southwest corner of Federal Square. He mar- 
ried Sarah Hitchcock in 1741, and they had children Abiah (Abbey?) Re- 
becca, Rachel, Thankful, Enos, Israel, Jesse. Abiah married, 1st, George 
Bliss Throop, of Lebanon, Ct., had children, 1st, Enos Thompson Throop, 
•Governor of the State of New York, 1829-33; 2d, George B. Throop, 
who married a daughter of Montgomery Hunt and sister of Judge Ward 
Hunt, of the United States Supreme Court; 3d, Abiah married ? Mar- 
tin. MrJJ Throop married, 2d, '? Hatch, had children Israel T., George 

"Whitfield and Eliza. At the decease of Mrs. Hatch, the Albany Argus 
said, " Among the deaths which are announced to-day is that of the ven- 
erable matron, Mrs. Hatch, mother of Governor Throop. She expired at 
the beautiful residence of Governor Throop on the Owasco Lake where she 
has resided for many years, surrounded by children and kindred, by whom 
she was revered while living, and who cherish her memory. She was a 
lady of much intelligence and force of character, imbued with the heroic 
principles and spirit of the mothers of the revolution, taking an interest in 
public affairs, and ever inculcating a love of country, of free government, 
and the support of men of tried patriotism and worth, who had stood by 
their country in the two wars with which she was familliar. She had at- 
tained the venerable age of eighty-four." Rachel, 2d daughter of Enos 
Thompson, married William Brush. Thankful, 3d daughter of Enos. mar- 
ried Abner Holmes, had children Epenetus, John, Israel, Jesse. Epenetus 

married Miss ? Brush, had children William, Sidney T. and Julia. 

Sidney T. was at one time member of congress from Madison and Oswego 
district, New York, and of high standing in the legal profession. He de- 
clined a legal partnership with Roscoe Conkling, at Utica, on account of ill 
health, and emigrated to Bay City, Michigan. John Holmes, brother to 



386 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Epenetus, has descendants in this state and in Chicago. Rebecca, daughter 
of Enos above, married Samuel Thompson. 

Thompson, Israel, son of Enos, signed the revolutionary "Associa- 
tion" in North East Precinct in 1775, was elected collector of quit rents in 
this Precinct in 1774, and 1775, and was supervisor in 1776. He was cap- 
tain of the 4th company of Militia in the regiment of Colonel Peter Ten 
Broeck, Morris Graham. Lieutenant Colonel, and was commissioned Oct. 
17, 1775. He soon after emigrated to Albany County, and was elected a 
delegate from that city and county to attend the convention in Po- 
keepsie to ratify the constitution held in June and July, 1788, and voted 
No. Later he was elected to the legislature from Rensselaer county. 

Thompson, Jesse, son of Enos, was born February 20, 1757, 
O. S., married Elizabeth Pugsley, daughter of Stephen Pugsley, Nov- 
ember 15, 1778. They were married by the Rev. Job Swift, then a 
minister at Smithfield. She was born January 18, 1756. Stephen 
Pugsley lived on the late "Pat Shannon" farm, south-west of the 
"Square," and was one of the three wealthiest men in Stanford. He 
had children besides Elisabeth, above, James, John, David and a 
daughter Sarah who married Gurdon Miller, possibly others. Jesse and 
Elisabeth Pugsley had children, Elisabeth, Jesse P., Maria. Elisabeth mar- 
ried James Graham, (married by Rev. David Pitt Candell,) son of Augus- 
tine Graham, had children Jane Ann, Thompson, Julia, (born in Duchess 
county,) and Abigail, Eliza and Catharine, born in Central New York. He 
deceased in 1855, Elizabeth his wife in 1846. Julia Graham, their daugh- 
ter, married Mr. George Coventry, and they have descendants, Mr. George 
Coventry, of Utica, and Mrs. Wilbur S. McKee, of Sacketts Harbor, N. Y., 
being two of their children. Jesse P. , son of Jesse, settled in Pine Plains 
town, married Phebe Case, had children Piatt, John, Eliza, Jessie, Phebe, 
Matthias. Smith, son of Matthias, is the only descendant living in the 
town. Jesse Thompson was a prominent man in old "North East Town" 
many years. He was a patriot in the revolution, and the war over he was 
a leading man as a citizen. He was a member of the legislature in 1796, 
when it met in New York city, Nov. 1, and adjourned, Nov. 11, to meet at 
Albany, January 3, 1797. He was a member in 1798, 1808, '09, 1814, '19. 
He was associate Justice, hence called "Judge." He was Justice of the 
Peace many years, and to his emigration to Cayuga County, N. Y., in 1814, 
where he deceased in 1833, His two daughters, Mrs. Elisabeth Graham 
and Mrs. Maria Wilcox, two noble Christian women, had previously settled 
there. A newspaper had this notice at his decease : ' ' Another revolution- 
ary patriot gone. Died at his residence in the town of Flemming in this 
county [Cayuga] on Monday the 23d instant, the Hon. Jesse Thompson, 
aged 82 years. Judge Thompson was a native of Duchess Co. . in this state 
and during a long life mostly spent there he enjoyed in a high degree the 
confidence of his fellow citizens as a man, a magistrate and a legislator. 



LINEAGE. 387 

He was for many years a judge of the county courts, and was often at dif- 
ferent times elected a member of the legislature from that county. Emi- 
nently exemplary in all the relations of social and domestic life, he has 
gone down to the grave full of years, with the enviable reputation of an 
honest, an upright and a useful man. Inspired by that ardent patriot- 
ism and hatred to oppression so general at the period, Judge Thomp- 
son was one of the first to take up arms to repel the aggressions of 
the mother country at the commencement of the struggle which ended 
by making us a free people. He held a Lieutenant's commission in 
the army, and fought bravely for his country's rights." When in the army 
at Ticonderoga he was ordered by General Scuyler, November 14, 1775, to 
go to Canada and buy hoi'ses. He had four men, Elijah Kinney, Nathaniel 
Gates, Samuel Dodge and Ezekiel Rice. His diary of this expdition is in- 
teresting. They suffered much by snow and cold, and were gone six 
weeks, arriving at Albany December 26th, and reported to General Schuy- 
ler, with his horses. The General was so busy that Lieutenant Thompson 
could not see him for three days, when he makes this final entry of this 
expedition : ' ' December 30. Did my business with the General and at 
three o'clock set out for home on foot. At night lodged at Miller's." 

His marriage ceremonies were about seventy. Thirty three he recorded 
commencing July 21, 1799, and the last January 19, 1814. 

Thompson, Ezra, who lived on the Hood farm at the '•Square," 
married Rachel Smith, of now Pine Plains, then North East, sister to Isaac 
Smith the father of Isaac, William, Reuben and that family. (See Isaac 
Smith lineage for more of Ezra and Smith Thompson. ) They had children 
Ezra, Smith, Egbert, Nathan, Joseph, Tammy, Elisabeth, Rachel, Sarah. 
Ezra, Jun. , married 1st, Miss Sara h Burton, lived in Pokeepsie on the east 
side of the New York and Albany post road, in a large double old fash- 
ioned yellow house, which later was occupied by one Van Derlip. He 
married 2d, Rebecca Ford. Smith, son of Ezra, Sen., married 1st, Miss 
Livingston; 2d, Miss Eliza Livingston. He was a Puisne Justice of the 
Supreme Court of the State from Jan. 8, 1802 to 1814; was appointed to 
the Board of Regents, March 3, 1813; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 
Feb. 3, 1814; chosen Secretary of the Navy under President Monroe, Nov. 
9, 1818, and Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, September 
11, 1823. His appointment to this last office was made in July, and the 
Dutcltess Observer, of Tokeepsie, of July 30, 1823, in regard to it made this 
reference : 

"The Hon. Smith Thompson has been appointed to the Supreme 
Court. The appointment of this gentleman, whose purity of character 
and judicial talents are well known cannot fail to be accepted to the 
nation." 

Egbert, son of Ezra, Sen., married Catharine, daughter Ebenezer 
Dibblee, of Pine Plains. He lived in the large house, now standing, at 
the Federal Store corners, at the " Square." 



388 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Nathan, son of Ezra, Sen., never married. Joseph, son of Ezra, Sen., 
married Zayde Smith, daughter of Peter Smith, of Pine Plains, and sister 
to James W. Smith. Tammy, daughter of Ezra, Sen., married Solomon 
Sutherland. Judge Sutherland, of Albany, was their son. Rachel, daugh- 
ter of Ezra, Sen., married Eli Todd, of New Milford, Conn. Sarah, daugh- 
ter of Ezra, Sen., married Doct. Williams, of New Milford. Elisabeth, 
daughter of Ezra, Sen., married David Doty. There are very many de- 
scendants in the United States of Ezra Thompson and Rachel Smith. 

Thompson, Allen, son of John, of Stanford, settled on the now 
C. C. More farm, in 1826. He succeeded Fyler Dibblee to that farm. 
When a young man in 1806 he attended a social gathering at the house of 
Stephen Reynolds, who then kept a hotel north of the now Smithfield 
church. As an incident at that gathering this appeared in the "•Political 
Barometer," of Pokeepsie: 

" The person, who through mistake took from the house of Stephen 
Reynolds, in the town of Amenia. on Monday evening, the 13th inst, (Oct- 
ober, 1806), a new drab colored Great Coat, and left his own in lieu there- 
of, will be so good as to return it, as the one left is in no comparison in 
value to the one taken from the subscriber. 

Allen Thompson." 

He married Elisabeth Pugsley, daughter of Edward Pugsley, had 
children Edward P., John Allen, Elisabeth. Cornelius. Edward P., mar- 
ried Cynthia Thorne, lived several years in Stanford, at now called Hun's 
Lake, later moved to the Thompson farm in Pine Plains, where he de- 
ceased, 1878. Has descendants. John Allen, son of Allen, settled in Pine 
Plains town a farmer, married Miss Velie, of Troy, N. Y. , and later moved 
to Millerton, where he deceased. Had one son, Edward, who was cashier 
of Millerton Bank, member of Legislature and a leading man in all the 
public enterprises of that village. His home is there now (1897). Corne- 
lius emigrated to Illinois, lived there several years, and now lives in Stan- 
ford. He is the only one living of the children of Allen and Elisabeth 
Thompson. Allen Thompson deceased on the Pine Plains homestead 
farm. 

Thomas, Edward, (see autographs) was the near ancestor of one 
branch of the name, early settlers in this part of "North East." He mar- 
ried Ann Landon, daughter of Jonathon Landon and Isabella Graham. 
(See Landon Lineage.) Had children Walter, John. Samuel, Richard, 
Hiram, Arabella, Mary Ann, Euphemia. Arabella, born 1750, in the 
Morris Graham stone house, (p. 52,) married Simeon Culver, brother to 
Joshua Culver, of Pine Plains. Hiram above is the only one of this family 
having descendants in the town bearing the name. Robert and Charles 
are his sons. 

Thomas, Beriah, "Uncle Bri," was of another branch or race. He 
has descendants now living in the town. (See Denton. Myers and Pulver 
Lineage.) 



LINEAGE. 389 

Van Alstyne, William, who lived in this town many years since 
was a descendant of Thomas Van Alstyne and Maria Van Allen, of Kinder- 
hook. They had two sons, William and Lawrence and a daughter Mary, 
who married John Legget, of Claverack, Columbia County, in 1794. Wil- 
liam made an agreement with Nicholas and Philip L. Hoffman for the pur- 
chase of lands" in Amenia," formerly belonging to Brinton Payne, and then 
occupied by Elijah Bryan. The deed by agreement was to be given in 
1795, which agreement was fulfilled. In 1799, William conveyed the lands to 
his son Lawrence, which embraced the late Isaac Bryan homestead, near 
Shacameco, now owned by his widow. William above, in 179(5, purchased 
by agreement the Carman Mill property. " with a Grist Mill and Fulling 
Mill," of Piatt Smith, then in possession of Thomas W. Van Alstyne under 
Piatt Smith. Smith never made the conveyance, but in 1799, Piatt Smith 
having deceased, Polly, his widow, executrix and Abraham Miller, 
Philip Smith, Isaac Smith and Stephen Mead, executors, conveyed to 
Lawrence Van Alstyne, son of William, the mill property. The deed was 
never recorded, but the transaction is of historical interest, as touching 
the tangled troubles of Augustine Graham concerning this mill property. 
(See pp. 34. 35. ) Lawrence, father of William of this lineage, wife 
? Murdock, left three children, William, Samuel, Mary. William mar- 
ried Laura Finch, daughter of Caleb and Deborah Finch, settled on the 
now Charles Case farm near Bethel, where he deceased. Had two child- 
ren, Lawrence and Mary. Lawrence when a lad drowned in the Shaca- 
meco. Mary married Dr. H. F. Smythe, a dentist of Pine Plains, have no 
descendants. Samuel, brother to William has descendants, Lawrence Van 
Alstyne, of Sharon, being one of them. Mary, sister to William, above. 
married Samuel Husted, of Stanford, emigrated to Spencer town, Colum- 
bia County, had several children, some of whom have descendants. Wil- 
liam Van Alstyne, who settled in Pine Plains, received a lieutenants com- 
mission in the 4th regiment of Artillery in 1816 from Daniel D. Tompkins, 
Governor, and was commissioned captain in the same regiment in 1818, by 
Governor DeWitt Clinton. Lawrence Van Alstyne, of Sharon, has just 
published Van Alstyne geneology. 

Van Kaiist, Cornelius, a resident of Pine Plains in 1800 and earlier, 
was son of Cornelius, a sea captain lost at sea off Cape Hatteras, son 
of Peter Van Ranst and Sarah Kienster, who came to America from 
Rotterdam in Holland in 1712. The mother of Cornelius, of this lin- 
eage was a daughter of Cornelius and Elisabeth Willett, who lived 
at West Farms, Westchester County, N. Y. When very young she 
married Cornelius the sea captain, above, had one son, Cornelius. (this 
lineage) and subsequently married Augustine Graham, of Pine Plains. 
(See Augustine Graham lineage.) Cornelius, from almost infancy to man- 
hood, lived with his grand parents, Cornelius and Elisabeth Willett. He 
married 1st, Jane W T arner, had daughters Jane, Elisabeth, John. Jane 



390 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

was "Little Jane," p. 351. She married Henry Sheldon, at one time a 
prominent merchant in New York city. Elisabeth married '? Good- 
year. John never married. (These attended school in Pine Plains, 1799.) 
He married 2d, Ann White, sister to Andrew and John White, early resi- 
dents of Pine Plains. Had daughters Cornelia, Amelia, Mary. Cornelia 
married Rev. Doctor Lansing, Presbyterian minister at Utica. Amelia 

married James Sayre, merchant at Utica ; Mary married ? Pond, was 

living in Brooklyn, June 1883, health poor. He married 3d, Eleanor 
Willett Gardner, widow of David Gardner, of Long Island. Cornelius 
"Van Ranst deceased in New York city, September 30, 1841. In June, 
1883, I called on Mrs. Jane Sayre, above, then living in Utica, N. 
Y. She was then a widow of eighty four, with mind unclouded and 
eye undimmed. Against the wall hung a clear, bright portrait of Cor- 
nelius Van Ranst. There was the traditional good, benevolent, social 
face and Roman nose of the early Dutch settlers of New York and Hudson 
river. I said on leaving, "I am very glad to have seen a daughter of 
Cornelius Van Ranst, and to have seen that elegant portrait." She replied 
with subdued emotion, "He was a good man." Not many years later she 
deceased. 

Winans, James was the first settler of the name in this vicinity and 
the ancestor of all the later Duchess County Winans families. The immi- 
grant ancestors came from the Province of Brabant, in the Austrian and 
French Netherlands, to America, about 1(530. Many since then have settled 
in New Jersey, at Elisabeth and other places in that state. James Winans 

and Sarah ? came to Duchess from Horse Neck, now Greenwich, 

Conn., and settled on the north border of Stanford, on the late Dr. I. M. 
Huntting farm in 1765-70. His children were James, Ira, Gerardus, 
David, Sarah a daughter, who married a Mr. Brown ; Susan, who married 

? Burton; Zayde, who married Edmund PerLee, Stephen, Seymour. 

James settied in Pokeepsie, married Johanna or Hannah Detiraf, had 
several children and has many descendants widely scattered. Ira married, 
lived in the town and emigrated from Duchess County about 1800. Has 
descendants in Yates County. There are many descendants from this 
branch. Gerardus settled in Pine Plains, but had few descendants in 
grandchildren. David had many descendants in this vicinity fifty years 
ago, but few now are living bearing the name. Joel S. Winans, many 
years a resident of Stanford and now living there, is a descendant. James 
Winans the ancestor, was born in 1714, deceased, April 4, 1795, in his 81st 
year. His wife Sarah deceased, Oct. 10, 1802, in her 87th year. They 
were buried in Round Top cemetery. A genealogy of the descendants of 
this James Winans to the present time would make a large volume. 

Wilber-Wilbua'. There were two branches of the name as early 
settlers in the town. 

Wilbur, Jephtha, settled west of Stissing mountain, on the now 



LINEAGE. 391 

borders of Milan and Pine Plains. He was for many years in the com- 
mencement of this century a prominent official in old North East Town. 
He has many descendants far and near. Frank Wilbur, a farmer of Attle- 
bury, Leander, J., and his brother Webster, now managers of the coal 
yard at Pokeepsie and Eastern depot are descendants of his. 

Wilber, Benjamin, ancestor of another branch, was an immigrant 
from Rhode Island and settled 1785-90 on the south part of the Steger- 
Sackett farm. His house long since gone was on a knoll east of the " Old 
House Swamp." He had children William, Robert, Ruth, Sarah, Benja- 
min. William married Sarah Smith, daughter of Peter and Sarah Smith. 
Robert married widow Mary Finch, maiden name Mary Smith, sister to 

Sarah Smith, wife of William Wilber. Ruth married • McNutt from 

Indiana. Sarah married Walter Smith, son of Peter and Sarah Smith. 
Benjamin married in Schoharie. William Wilber and Sarah Smith above 
had children Benjamin S., Matilda, Sarah, Theron, of whom only Benja 
min S. , married. He was a physician and commenced practice in this 
town about 1825. An old entry says: " 1 went to Doctor Wilbur to make 
agreement for his services for Doctoring Cyrus Prindle ; 4 shillings a visit 
every other day." This was written Feb. 7, 1825, by Isaac Sherwood, 
overseer of the poor in Pine Plains. A few years later he went to the 
town of Washington, in this county to practice medicine, where January 
1, 1829 he and Deborah Haight were married by Reverend William Jewett. 
He returned to this town in 1835 and lived on the Henry Myers farm in 
the dwelling now at the entrance to the Halcyon Lake villa, and later in 
that dwelling. He lived here several years, meantime combining medical 
practice and farming. Later he moved to Pine Plains village, where he 
deceased at the age of 70. His children were Robert, William, Sarah 
Frances, Theron, Benjamin, Charles, Catharine, Henry Clay, Margaret. 
Robert spent the greater part of his life in New York city and deceased 
there. William was a distinguished school teacher in Pokeepsie and New 
York city. He deceased a bachelor in Pine Plains. Charles is and has 
been seventeen years past, the editor and proprietor of the Pine Plains 
Register. Henry Clay is the popular "Doctor Wilber," of Pine Plains, 
and unmarried. His sister, Sarah Frances, makes his home and surround- 
ings enjoyable. (See cut of Dr. Wilber p. 300.) 

Wooden, William, born in 1777, at Kinderhook, Columbia County, 
went to Pokeepsie and worked at harness making under William Emott, 
whose daughter, Mary, he married about 1800, and soon after -came to 
Pine Plains. He was the first harness maker in the town. Had two sons, 
John and Emott. The harness manufacturing passed into the hands of 
Emott principally before his father's decease and after that was increased 
and became celebrated. Emott retired from the business in 1859 and went 
to merchandising; continued until April 1, 1865, when he sold out to Isaiah 
Dibble, who is now (1897) on the same location and in the same business. 



392 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Emott Wooden married Deborah, daughter of David Dakin in 1833, had 
one son, William, who in 1858 was graduated from Trinity College, Hart- 
ford, Conn., studied law in Albany under Peckham and Tremain, was 
admitted in 1860, and settled in New York city. He was there in 1862 
when in July he joined the Union army and was a captain in the 
150th regiment. He was in the service until the close of the war, 
was mustered out, June 8, 1865. He came to Pine Plains, resumed 
law practice with Richard Peck, and moved to Pokeepsie, Jan. 1, 1867, 
was clerk in the revenue service two years, and later revenue assessor of 
the 12th district. In the winter of '72 and '73 was clerk in the State 
Senate and in the fall of '75 was elected district attorney for Duchess 
County, and was re-elected. He now (1897) resides in Pokeepsie, a lawyer. 
His father and mother, Jan. 1, 1867, emigrated from Pine Plains to Po- 
keepsie, where they lived and where each deceased a few years since. 

Young, James was a resident of Pine Plains, as now bounded, in 
1776 and lived a little over a mile north-west of the village. (See old 
house p. 47.) The town meetings for North East Precinct were held at his 
house from 1776 to 1782 inclusive. I know not from whence he came nor 
whither he went. 




ADDITIONAL LINEAGE. 



Case, original, Kaas, (German). ' ' Ephram Kaas and Pruclens " his wife 
had a son " John " baptised at Round Top church. June 6, 1767. He is sup- 
posed to be the near ancestor of the name in now Milan and Clinton. Abner 
and Jonathan, of another branch, brothers, are the ancestors of the name in 
this vicinity, living fifty years since and now. Abner, born 1754, deceased 
1831, settled about two miles south-east of Pine Plains in the now Smith 
Thompson neighborhood. His wife Caroline was born 1702, deceased 1829. 
His son James, born 1785, married, 1st, Mary Rowe, had children Eliza, 
John, and Catharine who married George Smith, a farmer in the southeast 
part of the town. Their daughter, Phebe, married Wm. Carman, father of 
Supervisor Isaac Carman, of Pine Plains. John, above, married Eliza Corbin. 
They were the parents of Charles, George, John, and Mrs. Phebe Eno, (see 
Eno, Walter Lineage,) now living in Pine Plains. James Case married 
again, had five daughters and two sons, of whom Abner, one of the sons, is. 
now living in the town. Jonathan Case, brother to Abner, above, settled 
on a farm adjoining his brother Abner, had children Elisabeth, Jeremy, 
Wilson, Christine, Nancy and Amy. None bearing the name of this branch 
are living in the town. 

Corbin, Job, (autograph p. 248,) came to now Pine Plains town pre- 
vious to 1799, settled on the now Charles Case farm, and is said to have 
built the large farm dwelling now there. He was prominent in the councils 
of the town, and was Justice of the Peace for many years. He came from 
Dover, or Pawling, was a Quaker. He married as 2d wife widow Phebe 
Ferris, who was Phebe Palmer, (laughter of Benjamin Palmer, a wealthy 
farmer in tha east part of Stanford. By her first husband (Ferris) she had 
two sons, James and John. James was a leather dresser at the south-east 
corner of Halcyon Lake, lived in the dwelling now there, owned by Smith 
Sackett. John, brother to James, settled in now Milan, on the farm now 
the residence of Smith Ferris, a son of his by his first wife. (For his 2d 
wife see Christopher Dibble Lineage, p. 329.) Eliza Corbin, only child of 
Job Corbin, above, married John Case, son of James, as above. 

Carman, Richard, was the ancestor of the name well known in this 
town fifty years ago. He lived in now Milan, then ' ' North East, " and about 
1815-16 purchased the "Carman Mills" on the south-east borders of the 
town. This mill was built about 1750, and was in the " Gore " troubles for 



'394 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

many years. (See p. 34.) It came into the possession of Peter Rowe about 
1800, who sold it to his brother, Matthias Row. Reynolds brothers suc- 
ceeded, then Mr. Ellison, then Richard Carman, above. Phineas Carman, 
his son, was next proprietor, his youngest son John being the last owner 
of the Carman family. At his decease it was sold November 1, 1879, and 
bid in by Walter Loucks for twenty-five hundred and twenty dollars. 
Phineas Carman's sons were Richard, James, William, Isaac, John. James 
and William have descendants, and William is the only one living (1897) 
of the Phineas Carman children, and has descendants. 

C*ei*iiiaii — Germond — Germain — Silas was the ancestor of the north- 
ern Stanford and Pine Plains families. Silas, 1st, married Sarah? Sutherland, 
had sons Peter, Reuben, Silas, Obadiah. Obadiah was at one time speaker of 
the Assembly. Silas 2d, ancestor of the Pine Plains families, married, 1st, 
PhebeHildreth, daughter of James and Martha Hildreth, about 1792, had 
several children. He married, 2d, Charlotte Knapp. He lived at the " Cor- 
ners, "about a mile west of Stissing, until 1802 when he moved to the "Ger- 
mond farm," about three miles west of Pine Plains village, on the corners 
near the late Henry Ham farm, where he lived until his decease March 22, 
1849, aged 86. Polly Parks, widow of Jonathan Parks — her mother's name 
was Polly — occupied the farm, when Silas Germond succeeded. He took a 
deed of the farm May 20, 1803, about a year after he moved there, from 

? White, of New York, Parks never having owned the farm. The farm 

is now in the possession of his grandchildren. He has descendants living 
in Stanford. 

dra'aliaiai lineage additional. The following is from Cothreen's His- 
tory of Woodbury, Conn. : "The Rev. John Graham, A. M. , the second son 
of one of the sons of Marquis of Montrose, (probably James, see p. 343, Gra- 
ham lineage, I. H.,) was born in Edinburgh in the year Queen Mary died, 
1694. (Mary, II, Queen of Great Britain. I. H.) He received his educa- 
tion, and was a graduate at the University of Glasgow, in Scotland, studied 
theology at Edinburgh, and there received orders for the ministry. In the 
year 1718 he emigrated to Boston, in New England. He married Abigail, 
daughter of the celebrated Doctor Chauncey. He settled in the ministry 
at Exeter, N. H., where he remained till Dec. 1722, when he removed and 
settled over the church in Stafford, Conn. After remaining at this place 
ten years, he again removed and became the first minister in Southbury 
Society, Woodbury, in 1732. In this field of labor he remained till his 
death, December, 1774, in the 81st year of his age. During the last eight 
or nine years, however, through bodily infirmity, he was unable to minis- 
ter to his people. He was a learned theologian, and a consistent, de- 
voted and indefatigable pastor, universally revered for his piety, and exer- 
cised an extensive influence in all church affairs throughout the state. His 
original manuscript sermons, which contain a powerful elucidation of the 
■whole Christian system, displaying great biblical and classical learning, 



LINEAGE. 395 

were bequeathed to his grandson, whom he Christened with his own 
name, John A. Graham, L. L. U., of New York city, who left them to his 
son John Lorimer Graham, Esq. , of New York city. * * *■ 

* * This learned divine made, during his ministry, two visits 

to London and Scotland, upon each occasion on a mission from Yale Col- 
lege, to precure aid in books, etc., for that institution, in the success of 
which he always felt a deep interest. In both these missions he was suc- 
cessful." This much from Cothreen's Woodbury. The Rev. John Graham 
above has many descendants in "ancient Woodbury" today, and is yet 
called by the good people there "Priest Gram." He bad ten children and 
their descendants are scattered throughout the United States. One of 
them was an Andrew, educated as a physician, married and settled in 
Southbury, a part of ancient Woodbury. Andrew was admitted to the 
church in 1741, and deceased 1785, aged 57. He was a man of note, would 
never allow Continental money to be discredited in his presence, and after 
his decease a large chest filled with worthless paper issued by the 
authority of Congress, was found among his effects. He was one of the 
Committee of Safety in 1775, was a surgeon in the American army, was 
taken prisoner by the British and confined several months in the old 
Dutch church in Nassau St., New York. His grandson, sixty years later 
postmaster at New York city, converted this church into a post-office. The 
only time General Washington passsed through Southbury he stopped for 
the night at Dr. Andrew Graham's. He deceased in Southbury, and was 
buried in the "White Oak burying ground," not a stone's throw from his 
home. The inscription on his head stone reads : "Andrew Graham, M. 
D., and a descendant of the Duke of Montrose, departed this life for an- 
other and better world, in June 1785, aged 57 years. Out of respect to the 
memory of 'An Honest Man ' this marble is placed by his son, John A. 
Graham, L. L. D., N. York, 1805. Ne onhlie." Dr. Andrew Graham had 
a sister Love, baptised October 5, 1733, who married John Brinkerhoff May 
19, 1752. He deceased soon after, had no children. His widow married 
2d, Rev. Jonathan Lee, the first minister of Salisbury, Conn His 1st wife 
was a daughter of the president of Yale College, where he had graduated 
in 1742, at the age of twenty-four. He preached his first sermon in Salis- 
bury, 1743, was ordained and installed in 1744, and married as above the 
same year. He deceased there in 1788, having been pastor of that church 
forty-four years. On his monument in the old cemetery is a rude carvin°- 
representing him in his pulpit robes. Love Graham — Brinkerhoff, above, 
was his second wife. They had three children. Chauncey, Love, Walker. 
Chauncey Lee graduated at Yale in 1784, and was made D. D. by Columbia 
College a few years later. He was thirty years a minister at Colebrook, 
Conn. Love Lee married Rev. Aaron C. Collins. Walker Lee married 
and has descendants. Here endeth the Lineage. Honor thy father and 
thy mother, and have charity. 



CONCLUSION. 



The local, biographical and genealogical sketches in this book will have 
interest proportionately as the readers are more or less remotely connected 
or acquainted with the families and localities presented. What is nearest 
to us by consanguinity or by the experience and scope of our lives, quite 
naturally has the most ready claim upon our attention. Hence, some will 
find but little interesting to themselves in these local records, and especially 
those most restricted in acquaintance within the boundaries to which 
this work extends. Most of all, it will be certainly true of such as live 
most in themselves, and have no existence into the life of humanity. The 
most narrow and ill informed person is the most certain to feel himself 
the grandest product of time, and to sum up the world and all it con- 
tains in his own empty personality. 

The past is the architect of the present and the future. The knowledge 
of what is nearest to us and most connected with our daily life, is of more 
value than that which is more remote. The geography, the history, the tradi- 
tions of our own home, the sky above, the earth beneath, the landscape, 
the lake and forest, not less than our social surroundings, make the moral 
and intellectual atmosphere, the environment of our lives, which goes to 
form character in all its external and internal lineaments. This wonder- 
ful scroll of human existence is an epitome of the universe. It is the cu- 
mulative history of ages wherein the individual is but a leaf in the great 
tree of humanity, whose trunk and branches are the past and present of 
human evolution. 



inde;x. 



INDEX. 



A 

Alexander, James - Page 12 

Antell, Edward - 18 

"Association," Revolutionary War, - - - 40 

Amenia resolutions to revise constitution, - - 109 

Amenia, new first town meeting, - - - 112 

Armstrong, Rev. Robert G. , - - - 178,179 

Anthon, Rev. Henry - - 178, 223 

Allerton, Dr. Cornelius - 181, 281, 299 

Autographs - - 236 and on 



Broughton, Sampson - . Page 11, 21 

Broughton, Sampson Shelton - - - n 

Beekman, Collo ... 

Beekman, Charles . 23 

Bruyn (Brown) Jacobus 24, 25 

Bostwick, Reuben W. - 33. 275, 276, 278 

Bockee, Jacob - - 9G 

Bostwick, William - - - 279 

Bostwick, John Huntting 279 

Bentley, Henry - 28-i 

Beardsley, Elisha - 284 

Barnett, Rev. A. E. - 202 

Buttolph, Rev. John - 211 

Burtch, Rev. Luman - - 211, 217 

Baptist baptisms, - - J 1 2 

Benedict, Rev. Nathan D. . 213,215 

Breed, Rev. Joseph B. 215 

Brush, Alfred - 211, 218 

Burnett, Rev. J. - 219 

Bostwick, Chas. B. - L'23 

Berger, Rev. Jacob - 232 



400 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Bassett, William, should be Isaac, - - Page 260 

Bostwick, Reuben - - 276, 278, 279 

Boothe, Justus . - - - - 278 

Bostwick, Fred - - 279 

Burnap. Cyrus ... . 308 

Barrett, Ezra L. ... . 326 



Case, Ephriam . . . 293 

Carman. Richard . . 293, 294 

Clarke, George - ... Page 13, 16 

Cosby, William 12 

Clarke, Hyde - 16 

Clarke, Edward - - 17 

Clarke, George Hyde - - - 17 

Colony Line, (Oblong) - - - - 20 

Clarke, George 21, 23 

Clinton, Charles - - 24, 135 

Clinton, George, Gov. - - . - 35 

Committee of Safety, - - - - 39 

Colver. Elisha, Esq. ... 44 

Courts, Martial, Revolutionary War, - - 72 and on 

Class Money, Revolutionary War, - - 76 and on 

Constitution Revised, 1821, - - 107 

Cemetery, Evergreen - - - 281 

Carrol, Stephen ... 284 

Conklin, Jeremiah - - - 284 

Carman Mill, - - - 34, 285 

Church, Baptist - - 211 

Church, Round Top 139, 146, 147 

Church, Rhinebeck Reformed Members, - - 142, 144 

•Church, Lutheran, Rhinebeck, - - - 144, 145 

Church, German Reformed - - - 151 

Church at Attlebury, - 153 

Church, Quaker - - - - 154 

Church, Presbyterian - 166, 180, 183- 

Church, Methodist - - - 197, 200 

Church, Episcopal - - - 223 

Church, Bethel - - : 228 

Church, Pulver's Corners - - - 234 

Church. Christian - - . - 235 

Culver, Rev. John - - - 150 

Conley, Rev. W. R. . - 219 

Corbin, Job . . 293 

Craft, Rev. E. D. - - - 219 



INDEX. 401 

Clinton Plains, - - Page 292 

Conklin, Matthias Burnett - - - 305 

Conclusion, .... 395 

CUTS, ENGRAVINGS. 

Allerton, Dr. Cornelius - - - Page 290 

Bowman Opera House, .... 206 

Bowman Opera House, old corner of its site, - - 208 

Bowman, Jacob S. - - - 319 
Baptist Church, ..... 214 

Bethel Church, .... 230 

Bostwick, Reuben - - - - - 280 

Culver, Joshua 323 
Dibble Boothe House, .... 315 

Dibble, Isaiah - - - . 254 

Eno Law Office, - - - - 102 

Eno, Stephen - - - 2Zd 

Eno, William - - - - - 271 

Eno. Frank - - - 268 

Episcopal Church, - - - 222 

Graham, James Marquis - - 18 

"Graham Stone House, .... 52 

Huntting, Isaac Sen. Homestead - - 106 

Huntting, Edward - - 143 

Huntting, Isaac (grandfather) - 177 

Huntting, Isaac (grandson) - , - - 364 

Huntting, Morgan - - - 251 

Huntting, Lewis D. - - 255 

Husted, Polly Smith - - - 182 

Husted, Cornelius - - - - 216 

Husted, Walter W. - - 220 

Ham, Frederick, Old House, - - . 86 

Harris Scythe Works, - 307 

Harris Scythe Label, - - - 310 

Harris, Col. Silas ... 3 U 

James Young, old House, - - - - 47 

Ketterer Hotel, 294 
Knickerbocker. Jonas .... 159 

Myers, Henry C. - - 171 

Massev, William - - - 127 

Methodist Church, ... 193 
Pine Plains Bank Certificate, .... 277 

Pine Tree, ..... 37 

Presbyterian Church, - - - - - 165 



402 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Peck, Richard Page 227 

Quaker Meeting House, - - 155 

Rudd, Charles 121 

Rightcr, John, house of - - 95 

Reynolds, Dr. Israel .... 302 

Stissing House. .... 86 

Sayre, Rev. Wm. N. ... 190 

Seymour Smith, - - . . 263 

Seymour Smith Academy, - - - 266 

AVinchell & Hartwell, old store, - - - 137 

Wilber, Dr. Henry Clay - - - - 300 



Djbblee, Ebenezer 

Dibble Lewis 

Dibble, Isaac 

Dibble, Isaiah 

Dibble, Abraham son of Isaiah, 

Dorchester, Walter 

DeKocherthal, Rev. Joshua 

Davis, Rev. Sheldon 

Davis, Frederick W. 27.5 

Dibblee Boothe House, - - 314 

E 

Edsall, Robert - - Page 24, 26 

Early Settlers, - 119,134,135 

Edict of Nantes, - - 120 

Ellison, Thomas - - 160, 161 

Eno, Stephen - - - 260 

Eno, William - - 275 

Eno, William S. - - - . 278, 281 

Elmendorph, Cornelius C. - - 291 

Engravings, (see "cuts "in "C" index.) 



Fauconnier, Peter - Page 15, 19, 21, 23 

Fish Creek, - • 20 

Federal Store, - 286 



Pa-e 


90, 


V 


rs, 


223, 

2S5, 
286, 
122 


314 
284 

284 
286 
286 
287 
130 
224 



INDEX 



403 



G 



Graham Lineage, 

Graham Lineage, "Additional lineage" at the end of regular 

Great Nine Partners, 

Graham, Augustine 

Graham, James, Attorney General 

Graham, Augustine, Surveyor General 

Graham, James, Marquis 

tiore, .... 

Gore, Lot 4, - 

Graham, James, son of Augustine 

Graham, Charles - 

Graham, Morris, Col. 

Graham, Lewis, Judge, 

Geology, Pine Plains 

Garretson, Freeborn 

Gamble, Hugh 

German, Silas 

Graham, Rev. John 



Pa 


ge 338 


ineage 394 




7 


15, i 


39, 285 




15 


- 


17 




18 




30, 33 




34 


- 


34 


41, 


46, 68 


55, 


69, 70 


69, 


80, 81 




115 


- 


197 




308 




394 


394, 395 



H 



Housatonic, 

Hoffman, Martin, Deputy Surveyor 

Hoespel, Hendrick, doctor 

Harris, Joseph 

Highways, 

Highways, Districts 

Highways, Commissioners 

Hoffman, Henry, Esq. 

Husted, Walter W. 

Hoffman, Anthony M. 

Hart, Edward 

Hoffman, Henry, Jun., 

Hollbrook, Nicholas 

Huguenots, 

Hunter, Robert 

Hagen, Rev. John Frederick 

Hartwick, Rev. John Christopher 

Hoffman, Hendrick, headstone 

Hoag, Charles 

Huntting. Isaac 



Page 19 

21 

26, 29 

34 

85 

87, 91, 96, 97 

90, 94 

99, 284, 286, 287 

279 

283 

284 

284 

288 

120 

123, 130, 132 

130 

146 

149 

161, 163, 164 

106, 176, 177, 361 



404 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Hedding, Elijah - - - Page 197 

Hibbard, Billy - - - 197 

Husted, Cornelius - ... 218 

Husted, Mrs. Phebe - - 218 

Holman, Rev. S. L. - 219 

Hiram Lodge, - - - 249 

Husted, Peter - - 250 

Husted, Walter - 252 

Harris, Israel - - - 252 

Hull, John F. - - 276 

Harris and Knickerbocker, - 312 

Hammer Town, - - 309' 

Harris, Silas, - - 309 

Harris, Seth - - - 308 

Harris, John - - 306, 308 

Harris, Joseph - - - - 30S 

Harris Scythes, - - 306 

Hotel, Stissing Hous3 - - 291 

Hotel, Ketterer - 293 

Hotel, Pulvers Corners - 289 

Hotel, James Yoang, - - - 291 

Horse Racing, - - - 295 

Hammond, Henry R. - - 296 

Hagaman, Henry - - - 296 

Harris, Israel, lineage - - 352, 362 

INDIAN NAMES. 

Ananpake, ... Page 19 

Acwaisick, - - - - 27, 28 

Aquasick, - - - - 2T 

Annowawick ... 27, 28 

Nackawawick, - - - 27, 28, 29' 

Nishatawa, - - - 19 

Owassitannuck, - - - 9, 19 

Occumbus, - - • 17 

Ottouawa, - - - 19 

Panaskenack, - - 19 

Querapoquett, - - - 17 

Shacameco, - - - 25, 27 

Sakaqua, - - 27, 28 

Tamquash, - - 17 

Tatamkemit, - - - 19 1 

Tashammick, - - - 19- 

Wimpotmg, - - - - 9' 



INDEX 405 

Weeputting. - - - Page 17 

Wammunting, ... 17 

Wiantenick, - -9 

Wusumpe, - - - 17 

Wyawa, - - - - 17 

Wishshiag, - 17 

Wesaick, - - 17 

Wassaic, . . . . 17 

Yon-sing-pom-kin-feet, . . .17 

Younghaus, . . . 17 

Cabrickset, . . . .28 

Tasawight . . . .28 

Witauck, . . 28 

Tishasinks (Mountain), . . .28 

Takhannick, . . , 38, 97, 116 

Ausatanog, . . .97 

Teesink (Mountain), . . .103 

Oriskany, . . . 132 

Manessah, .... 336 

Indian Wigwam, . . , 21, 23 



Justices appointed, . . . Page 105 



K 



Ketcham, Joseph . . . Page 43 

Knickerbocker. Peter . . .43 

Knickerbocker, Capt. Peter B. . . 288 

Knickerbocker, Jonas, . . .310, 312 



Lineage, page 316 and on. The names are arranged in alphabetical order 
and no index is made. In some instances, matters of general historical 
interest are interwoven, but they generally pertain to the respective 
families in the headings. Hence the lineage is left to the reader ac- 
cording to interest or inclination. 
Little Nine Partner Grant, origin of . 5 

Lurting, Robert, & Co. . . .8 

Little Nine Partner Patent, . . 9 

Little Nine Partner Patentees, . . .9 

Leigh, Atwood, and others, . • 6 



406 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS. 

Lurting, Robert .... Page 16, 21, 23 

Little Nine Partner, . . . 19 

Little Nine Partner Outline Survey, . 24 and on 

Little Nine Partners Deed of Partition, . . 31 

Livingston, Robert . . , 38 

Lawrence, Uriah . . 44 

Lead Mines, North East Precinct, . . 79 

Landon Jonathan, . . 79, 81 

Lead, Sulphur and Flint Committee, . . 79 

Lapham, John H. . . . 288 

Lucas, Rev. . . .217 

Lafayette Lodge, . . .249 

Library, Pine Plains . . 256 

Lamp District, . 290 

Livingston's Furnace, , . 306 

Lewis. Jonathan . . - 314 

Lewis, Doctor . . 314 

M 

Morris, Lewis . . • Page 12, 15 

Momperson, Roger . . 14,-15, 21, 283 

Montgomerie, John Gov. . 12 

Morris, Chief Justice . . .13, 15 

Morris, Lewis Jun. . . 13 

Morris, Lewis, Gov. ... 18 

Morris, Annie . • 18 

Magdaline Island, . - .20 

Morehouse, George, . • .42 

Mead, Nathaniel . . • 42 

MacDonald, John . - 79, 80, 81 

Milan Organized, . . . 103 

Mount Ross Bridge, . - 104 

Militia Appointments, . • • 105 

Mount Ross, . • • 283 

Merrifield, Peter . - - 285 

■Myers, Jonas . . . 988 

Ministers, early . - 175, 178, 179 

MacGowan, Rev. James . - 196 

Mead, Walter . . . 199 

Methodist Preachers, . . 203 and on 

Methodist Circuits, . . • 203 and on 

Morris, Rev. James Milner . . 221 

JMiller, Rev. Samuel K. . . 224 



INDEX 407 

Masonic Pamphlet, . . . Page 253 

Mattlce, Rev. Abraham . . . 204 

Mail Routes, . . . SOI 



N 



Native Indians, . Page 21, 22, 23, 119 

Nase, Hendrick. . 36 

Nase, Philip ... 36 

North East Precinct, , . .38 

New Arrangement Revolutionary War . 71 

North East Town, . 91 

North East, Resolutions to Revise Constitution, - 106 

North East, First Town Meeting . . .112 

Nash, Samuel . . . .284 

Neeley, Alexander . . 288, 301, 302, 303 

Nairn, Rev. John B. . . . 219 

Nichols, Rev. C. N. . . 221 

Newspapers from Reynolds and Neeley, . . 304 

North East, First Election . . 305 

N. D. & C. Railroad. . . .305 



O 



Ohlong Line, . . . Page 25 

Orr, Hugh . . .43 

Oriskaney, Battle of . . 132 



P 



Patents, Names of . 3 

Precincts, Names of . 4 

Precinct, North East . . . 4 

Pauling, Henry . . 5, 6, 7 

Pauling, Patent . . .7 

Patent, Little Nine Partners, . 9 

Papsick Pond. . .29 

Payne, Brinton . . .34 

Pine Tree, ... 37 

Palatines, . . .38 

Palatines, Who? . . . 119 and on 

Provincial Congress, . . 39, 45 

Poor, Division of . . 103, 104 

Pine Plains Organized, . . Ill 



408 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Petition of Amenia and North East for Division, . Page 111 

Pine Plains, First Town Meeting . . 112 

Pulvers Corners, . . . 288- 

Pulver, Peter W. . . 288 

Pulver, Wandel . . . 288 

Pulver, "Uncle Helmus" . . . 288 

Palatine, Germans . . 120 

Palatines, First Immigration . . . 122 

Palatines, Covenant . . . 124 

Palatines, Ships and Furnishings . . 125 

Palatines, Villages . 128 

Palatines, "Break Up" . . . 123 

Frt-BoyLtiitui society, . . 185, 187 

Potter, Rev. Horatio . . 224 

Payne Lodge, . . . 249 

Pine Plains Bank, . . 275 

Physicians, . . . 297 

Post and Mail Routes. . . . 301 

P. & E. Rail Road, - - 305 

Prince Mannessah, . . . 336 



Quit Rents, . . . Page 113, 114 

Quillin, Rev. Horace S. . . . . 221 



Robert Lurting & Co. Petition, . . Page 8 

Rauch, Christian Henry, Moravian Missionary, . . 23, 25 

Rowe. Hannas (John) the Movarians' friend, . 25, 34, 134, 135 

Ross, Isaiah ... .27, 288 

Ross, Capt. Thomas (Baron) . . .27, 283 

Reynolds, Edmund ... 36 

Revolutionary War, . . .38 

Reivenberger, Johannes . 43 

Revolutionary War Companies, . 45, 46, 47 

Revolutionary War Regiments, . . .45 and on 

Roster of Col. Hopkin's Companies, . . 50 

Roster of Col. Morris Graham's Companies, 56 and on 

Ries, Rev. Johannes Frederick . . . 146 

Reed, Rev. Fitch . . . 201, 202 

Russel, Rev. Elder . . 217 

Reynolds, Rev. John . 217 



INDEX 409 

Reynolds, Walter . . . Page 275 

Righter, Peter . . 288 

Reynolds, Israel . . . 301, 303 

Railroad, N. D. & C. . 305 

Railroad, P. & E. . . . 305 

Reynolds, Edmund . . . . 308 

Ruggles, Nathaniel . . . 326 



Sackett, Richard, & Co. . . . Page 3 

Spraag, Jno. & Co. . . .9, 19' 

Schuyler, Peter ... 9 

Sampson, Broughton & Co. Petition, . . 8 

Sackett, Richard . . . 15, 19, 20, 23, 36 

Sackett, Richard Will, . . 119, 130, 132, 133 

Sackett, Richard, Indian Deed, Wassaic, . . 17 

Schuyler, Coll. Peter . . 19 

Sackett, Richard's Deed to Richard, Jr., and John, . 21 

Smith, Joban Tise ... .21 

Sackett, John . . 22, 23, 25, 27, 36 

Sackett, Jr., Richard . 22, 36 

Shacameco Indians, . ... 23 

Slate, Baiter . . . . 25 

Shacameco " Brook," . . . .25,27 

Smith, Coonrad . . . . 35 

Smith, Piatt ... 35 

Smith, Isaac, Judge . , . 35 

Spencer, Philip, Esq. . ... 35 

Sherburne, Henry ... 41 

Stewart, William . . . .42, 70 

Stewart, Capt. James ... 70 

Spencer, Alexander, Esq. . . . 99 

School Districts, . . . 104 

Stanford Resolutions to Revise Constitution, . . 106 

"Separate," ... . 286 

Smith, Lawrence, . . . 286, 287 

Sayre, Rev. Wm. N. . . 183, 185, 187, 279 

Sayre, Rev. Wm. N. Sermon, . . 189 

Selleck, Rev. J. W. . . . 202, 203 

Stearns, Rev. E. D. . . . 219 

Sabbath School, (first) . . . . 223 

Sill, Rev. Frederick . ' . 224 

Stissing Lodge, .... 254 



410 HISTORY OF PINE PLAINS 

Seymour Smith Academy, . . . • Page 262 

Smith, Seymour . . 262 

Schools, Union Free . . . 265 

Schools, District . . . 267 

School House, first one, . . . • 273 

Sheldon, Henry & Co. . . . 276 

Stissing Bank, . . . 278 

Stissing National Bank, . . . 278 

Steel Works, (Wassaic) . . . 306 

Smith, Richard (of Groton.) . . . 337 



Ter Boss, Jacobus . . Page 24, 26 

Thompson, Jesse, 2d Lieut. ... 46, 48 

Thompson, Ezra ... 80, 82, 83 

Turnpike, Ancram . . . 97, 98 

Turnpike, Ulster & Delaware . , 99, 100, 104 

Turnpike, Pine Plains & Gallatin . 101 

Turner, Cornelius W. . . . 286 

Tornado, ... . 213 

Temple Lodge, . 249 

V 

Vaughton, Susannah (Petition) . . Page 5 

Van Dam, Rip . 12, 14, 21, 23 

Van Dam, Rip and Isaac . . 14 

Vielie, Arnout, . . . 75, 76 

Van Alstyne, Wm. ... 285 



Wassaic Survey, . . . Page 17 

Westenhook Patent, . . . 19 

Westenhook Patentees, . . 19 

Woolf, John David . . .23 

Wilson, Daniel . . . . .43 

Winched, Aaron E. . . 99, 215, 272, 276 

Wool carding, . . . . 2S3, 286 

Winter, Matthew . . . 283 

Wightman— Whitman, Valentine . . 283, 284 

Wilbur, Samuel . . .284 

Wilbur, Elias . . . ' - 284 



411 



Wilson, Mrs. Eliza 
Winnegar Families, 
Willett, Jacob 
Woodin, William 
Wyckoff, Rev. James 
Wilber, Dr. Benj. S. 
Witts, Eev. C. E. 
Wilber, Tberon 
Wheaton, Rev. Homer 
Warren Lodge, 
Wooden, Emott 
Water Works, 
Wilkinson, Jemima 



Pasce 



136 

147 
162 

168 
19.-> 
199 
219 
224 
224 
249 
27.") 
290 
337 



Young, Jonathan 
Young, James (Landlord) 



Y 



Page 286 
291 





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